Economy

BOJ may offer bleaker view on economy, Ukraine war adds to risks -sources – Financial Post

Published

3 years ago

March 7, 2022

TOKYO — The Bank of Japan may downgrade its economic assessment at next week’s policy meeting as a spike in Omicron COVID-19 infections dealt a bigger-than-expected blow to consumption, said four sources familiar with its thinking.

The central bank may also warn of heightening economic risks from the Ukraine crisis, which threatens to dent consumption and corporate profits through soaring energy costs, they said.

“After recovering late last year, consumption seems to have slumped as Omicron and coronavirus curbs kept people home,” said one of the sources, a view echoed by three more sources.

“The economy didn’t do well in the first quarter,” and may struggle to gain momentum due to the fallout from the war in Ukraine, a second source said.

At the two-day meeting ending on March 18, the BOJ will thus consider offering a bleaker view on the economy and consumption compared with its previous meeting in January, the sources said.

In January, the BOJ said the economy and consumption were “showing clearer signs of pick-up.”

The central bank, however, is likely to keep monetary policy steady next week and put off until a subsequent meeting in April a decision on whether to maintain its forecast that the economy is on track for a recovery, the sources said.

“There’s simply too much uncertainty now to gauge the impact on Japan’s economic outlook,” a third source said. The sources spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to speak publicly.

The persistent drag from the pandemic and rising commodity costs from the Ukraine crisis have cast doubt on the BOJ’s view the economy is likely to improve thanks to continued strength in global demand and an expected rebound in consumption.

Longer run, the BOJ expects robust corporate profits to boost capital expenditure and wages – a view also under threat as soaring raw material costs squeeze corporate profits.

After expanding an annualized 5.4% in October-December last year, Japan’s economic growth will likely grind to a near halt this quarter as COVID-19 curbs and supply constraints weigh on a fragile recovery, a Reuters poll showed.

The BOJ will conduct a quarterly review of its growth and inflation projections at its April 27-28 meeting.

(Reporting by Leika Kihara and Takahiko Wada; Editing by Toby Chopra and Emelia Sithole-Matarise)

Adblock test (Why?)

Source link

Economy

Minimum wage to hire higher-paid temporary foreign workers set to increase

Published

1 day ago

October 21, 2024

Anne Joseph

OTTAWA – The federal government is expected to boost the minimum hourly wage that must be paid to temporary foreign workers in the high-wage stream as a way to encourage employers to hire more Canadian staff.

Under the current program’s high-wage labour market impact assessment (LMIA) stream, an employer must pay at least the median income in their province to qualify for a permit. A government official, who The Canadian Press is not naming because they are not authorized to speak publicly about the change, said Employment Minister Randy Boissonnault will announce Tuesday that the threshold will increase to 20 per cent above the provincial median hourly wage.

The change is scheduled to come into force on Nov. 8.

As with previous changes to the Temporary Foreign Worker program, the government’s goal is to encourage employers to hire more Canadian workers. The Liberal government has faced criticism for increasing the number of temporary residents allowed into Canada, which many have linked to housing shortages and a higher cost of living.

The program has also come under fire for allegations of mistreatment of workers.

A LMIA is required for an employer to hire a temporary foreign worker, and is used to demonstrate there aren’t enough Canadian workers to fill the positions they are filling.

In Ontario, the median hourly wage is $28.39 for the high-wage bracket, so once the change takes effect an employer will need to pay at least $34.07 per hour.

The government official estimates this change will affect up to 34,000 workers under the LMIA high-wage stream. Existing work permits will not be affected, but the official said the planned change will affect their renewals.

According to public data from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, 183,820 temporary foreign worker permits became effective in 2023. That was up from 98,025 in 2019 — an 88 per cent increase.

The upcoming change is the latest in a series of moves to tighten eligibility rules in order to limit temporary residents, including international students and foreign workers. Those changes include imposing caps on the percentage of low-wage foreign workers in some sectors and ending permits in metropolitan areas with high unemployment rates.

Temporary foreign workers in the agriculture sector are not affected by past rule changes.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 21, 2024.

— With files from Nojoud Al Mallees

Source link

Economy

PBO projects deficit exceeded Liberals’ $40B pledge, economy to rebound in 2025

Published

5 days ago

October 17, 2024

Anne Joseph

OTTAWA – The parliamentary budget officer says the federal government likely failed to keep its deficit below its promised $40 billion cap in the last fiscal year.

However the PBO also projects in its latest economic and fiscal outlook today that weak economic growth this year will begin to rebound in 2025.

The budget watchdog estimates in its report that the federal government posted a $46.8 billion deficit for the 2023-24 fiscal year.

Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland pledged a year ago to keep the deficit capped at $40 billion and in her spring budget said the deficit for 2023-24 stayed in line with that promise.

The final tally of the last year’s deficit will be confirmed when the government publishes its annual public accounts report this fall.

The PBO says economic growth will remain tepid this year but will rebound in 2025 as the Bank of Canada’s interest rate cuts stimulate spending and business investment.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 17, 2024.

Source link

Economy

Statistics Canada says levels of food insecurity rose in 2022

Published

6 days ago

October 16, 2024

Anne Joseph

OTTAWA – Statistics Canada says the level of food insecurity increased in 2022 as inflation hit peak levels.

In a report using data from the Canadian community health survey, the agency says 15.6 per cent of households experienced some level of food insecurity in 2022 after being relatively stable from 2017 to 2021.

The reading was up from 9.6 per cent in 2017 and 11.6 per cent in 2018.

Statistics Canada says the prevalence of household food insecurity was slightly lower and stable during the pandemic years as it fell to 8.5 per cent in the fall of 2020 and 9.1 per cent in 2021.

In addition to an increase in the prevalence of food insecurity in 2022, the agency says there was an increase in the severity as more households reported moderate or severe food insecurity.

It also noted an increase in the number of Canadians living in moderately or severely food insecure households was also seen in the Canadian income survey data collected in the first half of 2023.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct 16, 2024.

Source link