TORONTO — Five things to watch for in the Canadian business world in the coming week:
Bank of Canada mandate:
Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland and Bank of Canada governor Tiff Macklem are scheduled to hold a news conference on Monday morning, in which they are expected to announce a new five-year agreement on Canada's inflation-control target that the central bank will use to guide its monetary policy decisions.
Federal update:
Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland is slated to deliver an economic and fiscal update in the House of Commons on Tuesday. Signals coming out of the Finance Department suggest that spending will rather be limited in scope. The Canadian Chamber of Commerce has called on Freeland to provide more than a cursory update and unveil a plan to boost economic growth above the anemic expectations from economists.
Macklem speaks:
Bank of Canada governor Tiff Macklem is scheduled to speak at the Empire Club of Canada on Wednesday. The central bank kept its key interest rate target on hold at 0.25 per cent this month and maintained its guidance that it didn't expect to raise their until at least April.
Home sales:
The Canadian Real Estate Association is set to release November home sales figures on Wednesday while the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. will release housing starts for the month. CREA said home sales saw their biggest month-over-month increase since July 2020 in October even as new listings fell by about 20 per cent from a year ago. CMHC reported the annual pace of housing starts fell 5.3 per cent in October compared with September.
Inflation report:
Statistics Canada is scheduled to release its consumer price index for November on Wednesday as well as its monthly survey of manufacturing for October. Analysts expect the annual pace of inflation will be 4.7 per cent, according to financial data firm Refinitiv. That would be the same rate as in October, which was the largest gain in 18 years.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 12, 2021.
The Canadian Press
