Bank of Canada business outlook survey highlights
- Prior was 22.0
- Overall business outlook survey -7.0 vs -0.7 prior (revised to -0.5)
- Survey interviews from mid-May to early June
- BOC says survey suggests sentiment is strongly negative in all regions and sectors because of the pandemic and drop in oil prices
- Businesses expect weakness in domestic and foreign demand to continue
- Businesses in most regions and sectors intend to significantly cut their investment spending
- Half of exporters expect sales abroad to decrease over next 12 months
- Credit conditions have tightened significantly but gov't measures a helpful offset
The BOC also launched a separate survey of consumer expectations and noted that 1-year inflation expectations increased slightly to 2.8% vs 2.5% prior. The BOC says that may reflect a rise in food prices.
The BOC asked a special question in the survey. To what extent do you think your sales/workforce will be back to pre-COVID-19 levels in the next 12 months?
