Canadian Rate Cuts Will Take Months to Help Consumers, Scotiabank Says

While expectations for lower borrowing costs are building, it will take as long as three quarters for interest-rate cuts “to really bear fruit” for bank customers, according to a Bank of Nova Scotia executive.

“There’s some talk about rate decreases in June and July,” Scotiabank Chief Risk Officer Phil Thomas said Tuesday on the lender’s fiscal second-quarter earnings call, referring to moves by the Bank of Canada. “I’m of the opinion that even with those decreases in June and July, it’ll take a few quarters — maybe one, two, three quarters — for it to start to really support the Canadian consumer.”