Finance Minister Jim Flaherty warned again on Monday the government could tighten mortgage rules further if needed, after a report showed the country’s household debt levels have soared.   “As I’ve said before, if necessary, we will tighten the mortgage rules again. We keep an eye on the level of credit,” he told reporters.   […]

Watch out for rising debt levels, bank warns By Michael Lewis | Thu Dec 9 2010 As shoppers cram the malls this holiday season, the Bank of Canada has a Scrooge-like warning for consumers: Step away from the credit card and think about your ability to pay if borrowing costs rise or you lose your […]

OTTAWA – The Bank of Canada today announced that it is maintaining its target for the overnight rate at 1 per cent. The Bank Rate is correspondingly 1 1/4 per cent and the deposit rate is 3/4 per cent. The global economic recovery is proceeding largely as expected, although risks have increased. As anticipated, private […]

<http://www.financialpost.com/news/business-insider/China+reveals+secret+gold+hoard/3917975/story.html> Early this year, people speculated that China, which does not regularlyreveal gold data, was a key force driving the market higher this year<http://www.businessinsider.com/is-china-secretly-stealth-buying-gold-2010-6> . It turns out they are.                       The Shanghai GoldExchange revealed today it had imported nearly 500% more gold in thepast ten […]

The Canadian Press, 2010  OTTAWA – The federal bankruptcy office saysmore Canadian households and businesses became insolvent in Septemberthan in the month before. The office says bankruptcies rose 9.6 per cent– 9.9 per cent for consumers – in September from the August numbers. Insolvencies, which combine bankruptcies and proposals to refinancedebt, rose 7.6 per cent […]

Claire Sibonney, Reuters *  TORONTO – The Bank of Canada is unanimously expected to keep interestrates on hold next week, but the uneven economic recovery has primarydealers and global forecasters divided on the timing of the next hike in2011. The Reuters poll, released on Thursday, showed 93% median probabilitythat the Bank of Canada will keep […]

most Bay Street economists had forecast that the Bank of Canada rate wouldn’t resume movement until July, the fixed-income market has now priced in 50-50 odds of a rate increase of 25 basis points, to 1.25%, in March Paul Vieira, Financial Post · OTTAWA — The fixed-income market, considered among the best of forward-looking indicators, […]

By Julian Beltrame, The Canadian Press OTTAWA – Canada’s annual inflation rate jumped to 2.4 per cent in October, its highest level in two years, as Canadians were hit with price hikes for most things from gasoline to cars, shelter and food. The half-percentage-point increase in the annualized consumer price index was well above what […]

By Christopher S. Rugaber WASHINGTON – U.S. Federal Reserve officials have become more pessimistic in their economic outlook through next year and have lowered their forecast for growth. The economy will grow only 2.4 per cent to 2.5 per cent this year, Fed officials said Tuesday in an updated forecast. That’s down sharply from a […]

By Julian Beltrame OTTAWA – North American consumers are showing signs of emerging from hibernation in time for Christmas, pushing up inflation in Canada to a new two-year high and improving growth prospects for both economies. Canada’s inflation rate rose a surprising half-point to 2.5 per cent in October, a sign the economy is not […]