The autumn Business Outlook Survey shows that firms’ expectations continue to diverge as they gradually adjust to an environment of weaker commodity prices and a lower Canadian dollar. The overall sales and investment outlook improved, owing in part to continued support from U.S. demand. However, business sentiment remains weak for firms directly and indirectly tied to the resource sector.
Bank of Canada research done prior to the most recent renewal of the inflation-control agreement in 2011 concluded that the benefits associated with a target below 2 per cent were insufficient to justify the increased risk of being constrained by the zero lower bound (ZLB) on nominal interest rates.