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The Bank of Canada held its key rate at 0.75% Wednesday, a move or lack thereof that was expected by almost all economists.

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The Bank of Canada kept its super-cheap 0.75% interest rate on hold today. The real question for homeowers, says Garry Marr, is can you afford a rate hike?





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Since Governor Stephen Poloz surprised markets with a quarter point cut in January that nobody saw coming, investors have been betting on another rate cut later this year.

If Poloz only cuts once to get through this downturn, it would be the first time in at least 20 years a policy change was confined to one move.

Wednesday, the Bank slashed its growth estimate for the first quarter to 0% and said though the oil shock was hitting the economy a lot earlier than expected, its impact was no worse than foreseen.

So where do economists stand now on the next rate hike?

Mark Chandler, RBC

For the July meeting (when the next MPR is due) current pricing puts the odds of a 25bp cut at about 35%. Our own forecast calls for the Bank to remain on hold and begin removing accommodation around this time next year.

Avery Shenfeld, CIBC WM Economics