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February 02, 2015 at 05:46 AM
(Bloomberg) — The Bank of Canada’s decision to lower borrowing costs last month is deepening household concern that the economy is in for a rough ride, polling suggests.
The share of Canadians who predict the national economy will weaken over the next six months rose to 41.5 percent last week, the highest since the 2009 recession and up from 36.1 percent a week earlier, according to Nanos Research. It was the first full week of polling since the central bank made its surprise cut on Jan. 21.
Growing pessimism about the economy’s prospects may be an unintended consequence of Governor Stephen Poloz’s rate move, prompting consumers to keep a lid on spending, according to economists, including Bank of Montreal’s Doug Porter. Poloz cited the economic effects, including lower business investment, that will probably result from the more than 50 percent drop in oil prices since the summer.
“A quarter point doesn’t do that much to bolster the economy on the one side, and on the other side I think it actually heightens the level of anxiety about the economic outlook overall,” Porter said in a telephone interview Monday. “There was already enough anxiety about the economy. To have the Bank of Canada surprise one and all, I’m not sure was terribly productive.”
The share of those who see the economy strengthening over the next half year fell to 16.2 percent, from 18.3 the previous week, according to the weekly survey compiled for Bloomberg News. The gap between pessimists and optimists, at 25.3 percentage points, was the widest since the recession.
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