Canadian Economists Predict Bank of Canada Will Hold Rates at 0.25% Until End of 2021

In a poll conducted on May 26-28, by Reuters, 23 out of the 24 Canadian economists polled said they expected the Bank of Canada will hold interest rates at a record low of 0.25% until at least the end of 2021. In a separate Reuters poll, economist said that they thought that the Canadian economy would contract a staggering 37.5% on an annualized basis in the second quarter. Bank of Canada Governor Stephen Poloz, who will be succeeded by Tiff Macklem on June 3, said recently the damage done by the global pandemic might not be as bad as some fear and talk about it was “a little too dire.”