Bank of Canada holds interest rates steady

[Chigu]

Thank Bank of Canada announced today they are leaving the overnight lending rate unchanged.

http://www.bank-banque-canada.ca/en/fixed-dates/2008/rate_030908.html

[gomyone]

Thank Bank of Canada announced today they are leaving the overnight lending rate unchanged.

http://www.bank-banque-canada.ca/en/fixed-dates/2008/rate_030908.html

...yes but what is interesting is that they didn't give any indication that they were leaning toward cutting rates any further in the months ahead - this is what pretty much everyone was looking for. Unless the economy goes off the rails and the job data turns really ugly, I guess we are looking at a 3% overnight rate for the next several months....

[babysham]

Not a surprise.

[tiger_handheld]

is prime still 4.75 or has it changed to 5.75?

the screwups at rbc changed my LOC rate.

[Chigu]

The rate is still 4.75%.

[gomyone]

is prime still 4.75 or has it changed to 5.75?

the screwups at rbc changed my LOC rate.


...be careful of this - unlike variable rate mortgages the spreads used on LOCs aren't "contracted" - the bank can therefore just increase them even if prime hasn't changed. I noticed some of the banks doing this when prime was actually falling earlier this year so that your effective borrowing rate actually could have gone up even though prime rates were falling!