OTTAWA — The Bank of Canada has downgraded the country’s growth outlook yet again with fresh projections Wednesday that see an impending drop in housing activity tied to new government rules and, more importantly, signs of a permanent decline in exports.
The gloomier economic picture weighed heavily enough on the central bank’s governing council for them to actively discuss lowering the trendsetting interest rate from its already-low perch of 0.5 per cent, governor Stephen Poloz said. But the bank ultimately kept the rate where it’s been since July 2015, as analysts had widely expected.
The bank’s latest monetary policy report was released as the economy continues to struggle to emerge from a prolonged period of slow growth and recover from the negative effects of the plunge in oil prices that began two years ago.
On exports, Poloz said the bank’s latest projections incorporated a “structural” shortfall to help …