Canada Growth Probably Stalled, Allowing Carney to Pause

Canadian growth probably stagnated at the start of the year as consumers restrained their spending, giving Bank of Canada Governor Mark Carney more reason to further delay raising interest rates.

Statistics Canada will report the economy grew at a 1.9 percent annual pace in the January-March period, little changed from 1.8 percent in the prior quarter and less than Carney’s forecast of 2.5 percent growth, according to the median forecast in a Bloomberg News survey of 25 economists. Domestic demand probably increased at a 1.2 percent rate, the slowest since the recession that ended in 2009, according to Bank of Montreal.