Economics
Canadians Are Starting to Ease Up on Their Household Debt Binge
- Mortgage lending slowest in four years on tighter rules
- Latest data give Poloz ‘breathing room’ to raise rates
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Canada’s debt to disposable income ratio declined by the most on record in the first quarter, boosting confidence the country’s households can handle higher borrowing costs.
The ratio fell to 168 percent in the first three months of 2018, from 169.7 percent in the prior period, Statistics Canada said Thursday in Ottawa. The 1.7 percentage point decline was the most in data back to 1990, and follows an almost continual run of increases to a record 170 percent in the third quarter of 2017.