Alberta won’t have trouble handling interest rate bump: economist

ATB Financial’s Chief Economist Todd Hirsch believes Albertans won’t be affected too badly by the latest Bank of Canada announcement.

The key interest rate is expected to go up for the first time in nearly seven years.

“That will make it a little more challenging for — especially first time home buyers, maybe ones wanting to get into the market because the mortgage rate is going to be a little bit higher. But for most Albertans one move by the Bank of Canada isn’t going to make a huge amount of a difference,” Hirsch told CityNews.

Hirsch said one of the objectives is to slow down hot housing markets, but Calgary isn’t a target.

“(The) housing market has remained remarkably resilient and quite balanced, actually, throughout the recession. However, other markets like Toronto and Vancouver, I think that really is the target of what the Bank of Canada is trying to cool down,” he said.

Hirsch said he anticipates the overnight lending rate will be bumped up a number of times over the next three years to finally land at about 2.5 per cent.

Top Stories

Top Stories

Most Watched Today