Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government https://www.reuters.com/markets/us/floods-top-mind-canadian-pm-trudeau-outlines-priorities-parliament-2021-11-23 will outline new fiscal and economic forecasts in a document to be released on Tuesday as inflation surges and some business groups and opposition politicians call for more spending restraint.
The so-called fall economic update (FES) will be released at 4 p.m. ET (2100 GMT) and will include some new spending as well. The FES will be “limited in scope https://www.reuters.com/markets/us/exclusive-canadas-fall-fiscal-update-be-limited-scope-sources-2021-12-02″ in terms of expenditure, a source told Reuters last week.
“We’re going to be sharing not just where we are as an economy in our recovery, but also how we’re going to continue to help people into the future,” Trudeau told reporters on Tuesday, referring to the FES.
The Liberal prime minister pledged C$78 billion ($61 billion) in new investment over five years to foster Canada‘s economic rebound from the coronavirus pandemic during the campaign ahead of his September re-election.
“My reading of the tea leaves would be: Even if the fiscal statement is light, it doesn’t mean that the upcoming budget will be,” said Tony Stillo, director of Canada economics at Oxford Economics.
Trudeau’s government is expected to release its 2022-23 fiscal-year budget during the first part of next year. This fiscal year’s budget included C$101 billion in investments over three years.
On Monday, the government said it would set aside C$40 billion ($31.1 billion) in the FES to compensate Indigenous children https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/canada-setting-aside-c40-billion-compensate-indigenous-children-harm-2021-12-13 who suffered discrimination in foster care, and will start paying out once a protracted lawsuit is settled.
PANDEMIC SUPPORT
Business lobbies and the opposition Conservative Party have urged the government to scale back spending after inflation hit an 18-year high. This is also because the costs to service the country’s debt are expected to start rising next year.
The Bank of Canada left its key overnight interest rate at 0.25% last week, but reiterated https://www.reuters.com/markets/rates-bonds/bank-canada-leaves-key-rate-unchanged-sticks-guidance-hike-timing-2021-12-08 that economic slack would be absorbed in the “middle quarters” of 2022, setting the stage for a first rate hike as soon as April.
Pandemic-related supports for businesses and individuals produced the highest deficit since World War Two last year. Already in October, Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland indicated Canada would significantly scale back spending on COVID-19 support programs now that more than 85% of the eligible population was vaccinated against the virus.
In April, Freeland said debt as a percentage of output would progressively decline, providing a fiscal anchor going forward. In the budget, debt was forecast to be 51.2% of gross domestic product this fiscal year, falling to 50.7% the following year.
($1 = 1.2846 Canadian dollars)
(Reporting by Steve Scherer, with additional reporting by Fergal Smith in TorontoEditing by Nick Zieminski and Paul Simao)
TORONTO – Strength in the base metal and technology sectors helped Canada’s main stock index gain almost 100 points on Friday, while U.S. stock markets also climbed higher.
The S&P/TSX composite index closed up 93.51 points at 23,568.65.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 297.01 points at 41,393.78. The S&P 500 index was up 30.26 points at 5,626.02, while the Nasdaq composite was up 114.30 points at 17,683.98.
The Canadian dollar traded for 73.61 cents US compared with 73.58 cents US on Thursday.
The October crude oil contract was down 32 cents at US$68.65 per barrel and the October natural gas contract was down five cents at US$2.31 per mmBTU.
The December gold contract was up US$30.10 at US$2,610.70 an ounce and the December copper contract was up four cents US$4.24 a pound.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
OTTAWA – Statistics Canada says wholesale sales, excluding petroleum, petroleum products, and other hydrocarbons and excluding oilseed and grain, rose 0.4 per cent to $82.7 billion in July.
The increase came as sales in the miscellaneous subsector gained three per cent to reach $10.5 billion in July, helped by strength in the agriculture supplies industry group, which rose 9.2 per cent.
The food, beverage and tobacco subsector added 1.7 per cent to total $15 billion in July.
The personal and household goods subsector fell 2.5 per cent to $12.1 billion.
In volume terms, overall wholesale sales rose 0.5 per cent in July.
Statistics Canada started including oilseed and grain as well as the petroleum and petroleum products subsector as part of wholesale trade last year, but is excluding the data from monthly analysis until there is enough historical data.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
TORONTO – Canada’s main stock index was up more than 150 points in late-morning trading, helped by strength in the base metal and energy sectors, while U.S. stock markets were mixed.
The S&P/TSX composite index was up 172.18 points at 23,383.35.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 34.99 points at 40,826.72. The S&P 500 index was up 10.56 points at 5,564.69, while the Nasdaq composite was up 74.84 points at 17,470.37.
The Canadian dollar traded for 73.55 cents US compared with 73.59 cents US on Wednesday.
The October crude oil contract was up $2.00 at US$69.31 per barrel and the October natural gas contract was up five cents at US$2.32 per mmBTU.
The December gold contract was up US$40.00 at US$2,582.40 an ounce and the December copper contract was up six cents at US$4.20 a pound.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
