Prime lending rate in Canada now 2.5%

Bank of Canada lowers overnight rate target by 1/2 percentage point to 1/2 per cent.

The bank has now reduced interest rates by four percentage points since it commenced the latest cycle of easing in December 2007.

The move by the central bank to lower lending costs was quickly followed by several of the country’s big chartered banks, as they cut their prime rates by one-half of a percentage to a record 2.5 per cent.