General

Banks to increase mortgage rates

Will central bank follow trend?

In April 2009, the Bank of Canada rushed to aid an ailing economy, fixing its key lending rate at a paltry 0.25 per cent. Since then, the economy has indeed begun to recover, and the stock market has rallied. But don’t get too comfortable. On Monday, Royal Bank and TD Canada Trust announced that they will increase several mortgage rates by up to .6 per cent; the new rates go into effect on Tuesday. This will be the first time since last October that Canadian mortgage rates have been hiked. And more banks are expected to follow suit. All this has forecasters predicting that the central bank will move up its key lending rate as soon as this summer. Mark Carney, Bank of Canada’s governor, warned just last week that Canada’s inflation rate was higher than anticipated.

CBC News

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