Raise Rates ‘Without Delay’: OECD

(Tavia Grant — Globe & Mail)

The Bank of Canada should raise interest rates “without delay” and continue to gradually hike throughout this year and next, the OECD said Wednesday.

The recommendation comes just six days before central bank officials announce a decision on whether to boost its key lending rate from a record low.

Strategists had thought, until lately, a June 1st rate hike was a done deal after a string of stronger-than-expected Canadian economic reports. That certainty has ebbed, though, as European debt problems shake global confidence. The OECD, for its part, thinks the central bank should act swiftly to raise rates. Read more here.