Rate hike argument builds as poll shows companies to hire, invest more
OTTAWA — Canadian companies are more upbeat about the future than they were three months ago with firms planning to boost investment and to hire more workers, according to the Bank of Canada’s latest business outlook survey.
With a little more than a week before the Bank of Canada’s next interest rate announcement, the results Monday further solidified forecasters’ expectations that governor Stephen Poloz will raise the trend-setting interest rate for a third time since last summer.
“The big takeaway from today is that this survey gives the Bank of Canada a green light — a bright green light — to hike interest rates again next week,” Manulife Asset Management senior economist Frances Donald said in an interview.
The poll results showed firms had begun to focus more on hiring and investment to address capacity pressures that had intensified over the past year — mostly due to labour shortages. They expected this pressure to persist for the next 12 months, the survey said.