Toronto (Canada), 28 Feb. The Canadian economy stagnated in the last quarter of the year after contracting by 0.1% in December, according to data released on Tuesday by the public body Statistics Canada (CE).
In the last three months of 2022, gross domestic product (GDP) growth was zero.
The Bank of Canada had forecast growth of 1.3% in the quarter, although it also forecast stagnation in the first three quarters of 2023.
This is the first time since the third quarter of 2021 that Canada’s GDP has not recorded growth.
EC data also indicate that business spending on machinery and equipment fell 7.8% in the quarter, the second consecutive drop in the level of business investment.
In addition, household spending rose 0.5% during this period after falling 0.1% in the third quarter.
The figures for the last three months of 2022 allow the Bank of Canada to keep interest rates unchanged when announcing its next decision in March.
From January to December 2022, the Bank of Canada raised interest rates by 0.25 to 4.25% to contain inflation, which reached 8.1% in June last year.
In January of this year, the monetary authority raised the interest rate by another quarter point, which now stands at 4.5%.
In February 2023, inflation fell to 5.9%, the first time since February 2022 that it has been below 6%. ECE
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