The Bank of Canada this morning announced it will maintain its key overnight interest rate to 0.25%.
Watch its press briefing live at 10:30 a.m.
The central bank said the coronavirus outbreak could trigger the biggest ever near-term Canadian downturn but suspended its regular economic forecasts, citing exceptional uncertainty over the outlook.
In its quarterly monetary policy report, the central bank instead outlined two recovery scenarios under which real GDP would shrink. The bank estimated real GDP would fall by 1% to 3% in the first quarter and would contract by 15% to 30% in the second quarter, both compared to the fourth quarter of 2019.
"Despite a high level of uncertainty, these estimates suggest that the near-term downturn will be the sharpest on record," the bank said.
Watch the central bank's press briefing live at 10:30 a.m. on Wednesday, April 15.