Two weeks ago we asked if, in the aftermath of the dramatic selloff suffered by European banks over commodity exposure concerns, whether Canadian banks would not be next in line. The reason was that according to an RBC report, while US banks had already taken significant reserves against future oil and gas loans, roughly amounting to 7% of their exposure, Canadian banks were stuck in denial.
2015 was not a good year for job creation in Alberta.
In fact, the net 19,600 jobs the province shed marked the worst year for job losses since 1982.
Alberta is of course suffering from the dramatic collapse in oil prices, which look set to remain “lower for longer” in the face of a recalcitrant Saudi Arabia and an Iran which is hell bent on making up for lost time spent languishing under international sanctions.
It was just last month when we profiled Canada’s “other problem”: record high household debt.
Canada is struggling to cope with falling crude prices which have put enormous amounts of pressure on some parts of the country, most notably Alberta, where suicide rates are on the rise, as is property crime and foodbank usage.
Submitted by Dalan McEndree via OilPrice.com,
By Monique Muise, as published on Global News
Canada sells nearly half of all its gold reserves
The government of Canada sold off nearly half its gold reserves in recent weeks, continuing a pattern of moving away from the precious metal as a government asset.
According to the International Monetary Fund’s International Financial Statistics, Canada held three tonnes of gold reserves as of late 2015.
http://globalnews.ca/video/embed/2511836/