Article content

The Bank of Canada’s decision to cut its key interest rate to 0.5 per cent is a “mistake by every measure” that will actually cause “more damage than good” for the country’s struggling economy, says Kevin O’Leary, chairman of O’Leary Financial Group.

The influential Canadian investor says the rate cut will send the value of the Canadian dollar against the greenback even lower, hurt Canadian productivity, and do little to address Canada’s main issues in economic growth.

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or Bank of Canada's interest rate cut 'a mistake by every measure,' says Kevin O'Leary Back to video

“There’s nothing good about what happened yesterday,” O’Leary told CTV’s Canada AM on Thursday. “It signals to the rest of the world that we have a weak economy, that we’re worried about it and our dollar is devalued. It’s the stock of the country.”

The central bank’s governor, Stephen Poloz, cut its trendsetting interest rate by a quarter point on Wednesday for the second time this year. The Bank of Canada said the economy likely contracted by 0.6 per cent from January to March and by 0.5 per cent between April and June, meeting the technical definition of a recession: two consecutive negative quarters.