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BoC: Business Outlook Survey Indicator down to -0.6 in Q1 from 2.2

The Bank of Canada's Business Outlook Survey - Spring 2019 showed that the Business Outlook Survey Indicator dropped to -0.6% in the first quarter from 2.2. The publication further revealed that the Senior Officer Loan Survey improved to -2.7 from -16 and Future Sales rose to 6 from -1. The initial market reaction weighed on the CAD and the USD/CAD pair surged to 1.3370, where it was up 0.37% on the day.

Key takeaways from the press release

  • The Business Outlook Survey indicator decreased from a strongly positive level in the winter survey and is now slightly negative, suggesting a softening in business sentiment.
  • Firms’ expectations for sales remain positive but have softened as several businesses are less optimistic about demand.
  • Credit conditions eased marginally over the past three months.
  • Businesses expect input price growth to stabilize over the next 12 months.

Author

Eren Sengezer

As an economist at heart, Eren Sengezer specializes in the assessment of the short-term and long-term impacts of macroeconomic data, central bank policies and political developments on financial assets.

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