Key interest rate rises to 4.25%

PRINCE GEORGE — The Bank of Canada has raised the key interest rate to 4.25% today, the highest it has been 2008.

The Bank of Canada raised its overnight rate by 50 basis points to 4.25 percent, which is the seventh rate hike in nine months. Inflation has remained high in Canada, 6.9 percent in October. Unemployment has remained low however, and average hourly wages rose by 5.6 percent year over year in October.

Marc Lee, a senior economist with the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives says that non-mortgage interest payments will be around $58 billion dollars., which is equivalent to almost two percent of Canada’s GDP.