Highlights of the Bank of Canada decision on Dec 3, 2014:
- Holds interest rates at 1.00%, as expected
- Lower oil and commodity prices will weigh on economy
- Sees signed of hoped-for sequence of rebuilding leading to balanced growth
- Stronger exports beginning to be reflected in increasing business investment, employment
- Inflation higher than expected, largely due to temporary factors
- Output gap appears to be smaller than projected in Oct
- Lower oil tempered by stronger US economy, CAD depreciation
- Global growth continues to disappoint
- Balance of risks remains in a zone where current monetary policy is appropriate
There are some comments about commodity risks but overall it’s more hawkish, especially the comment on the output gap.
