It’s proving to be a real tug of war for Bank of Canada Governor Stephen Poloz.
On one hand, the economy has picked up much quicker than the bank anticipated, with retail sales results this morning just confirming continuing economic strength and the new wave of consumer confidence in Canada.
Retail sales are now up 3.6 per cent so far this year, the best yearly start since 1991.
Add that data to much better than expected GDP growth, improved balance of trade figures, and much stronger employment growth and it’s all a recipe for an interest rate hike.
That was until oil prices did their swoon again late last month when oil was at $55 per barrel.
With the barrel price correcting to under $43 yesterday, it’s now at least giving pause to the Bank of Canada which may certainly ponder holding back next month’s anticipated hike in rates.