Canada Cuts Rates a Second Time as Oil Shock Shrinks Economy

The Bank of Canada reduced its benchmark interest rate for a second time this year as the damage from lower oil prices shrank the economy in the first half and leaves a full recovery almost two years away.

Gross domestic product probably “contracted modestly” in the first half, policy makers said, without calling it a recession, typically defined as two straight quarters of negative growth. Output will recover this year as non-energy exports rebound from a decline the bank called “puzzling.’