OTTAWA—Canadian firms are still seeing weak demand and slow sales growth but conditions improved marginally in the third quarter and could be boosted by rate cuts, according to a Bank of Canada survey released on Friday.
Over the next 12 months, 43 percent of businesses expect the rate of increase in sales volumes to be better than the previous 12 months, with 30 percent predicting a decline, the third quarter business outlook showed.
Analysts and economists, who see the survey as the most up-to-date marker of business and consumer sentiment, say it will help the central bank decide on the size of its rate cut later this month….