Jim Flaherty Justifies Mortgage Meddling Amid Sheer Criticism

This article was last updated on April 16, 2022

Canada: Free $30 Oye! Times readers Get FREE $30 to spend on Amazon, Walmart…
USA: Free $30 Oye! Times readers Get FREE $30 to spend on Amazon, Walmart…

On the evening before the federal budget, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty justified his resolution to intervene in the Canada’s mortgage market, as he recently warned the masses that historically-low interest rates will not remain as it is forever, and might do more harm than good, by enticing Canadians to borrow more than they can afford.

Flaherty’s act was criticized by the opposition and several members of Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s cabinet too, asserting that Flaherty transgressed his limit because his office was not entitled to force Manulife Financial to overturn their decision of lowering its five-year mortgage rate from 3.09 per cent down to 2.98 per cent. The bank quickly abide by the ministry’s recommendation, asserting in a statement, that Manulife has re-established the higher rate “after consulting with the Department of Finance.” Flaherty was visiting a Roots factory in Toronto to purchase a pair of budget-day shoes, i.e. a long-running Canadian tradition, on Wednesday, when he explained that “our concern, my concern for a number of years, is with very low interest rates that people can afford their mortgages when interest rates go up.” He added that “it’s a concern for Canadians that they’re careful and that they don’t assume that very low interest rates, like we have now, will continue indefinitely, because they won’t.”

However, not even the Conservative cabinet unanimously agreed to Flaherty’s meddling. The Small Business Minister, Maxime Bernier, mentioned on Wednesday that “it’s the market. It’s supply and demand that decides the prices,” while adding that “it is the case for interest rates, it is the case for other products too.”

Share with friends
You can publish this article on your website as long as you provide a link back to this page.

Be the first to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.


*