Upbeat survey may pave way for interest rate hike

Canadian firms are giving the recovery a vote of confidence in a key quarterly survey, paving the way for the Bank of Canada’s expected interest rate hike next week. The central bank’s quarterly survey, released Monday, showed firms were concerned about the fallout from the European sovereign debt mess, but still generally upbeat about the coming year. “Overall, (business executives) are positive about the outlook for business activity over the next 12 months,” the bank wrote