Finance Minister Oliver says he won’t meddle with banks’ decisions on rates

OTTAWA — Federal Finance Minister Joe Oliver says he has no intention of pushing Canadian banks to follow the Bank of Canada’s lead and drop their rates.

The central bank unexpectedly cut its trend-setting interest rate Wednesday to 0.75 per cent in response to the oil-price collapse.

Financial experts have said borrowers shouldn’t automatically expect Canada’s big banks to cut their prime rates just because the central bank decided to do so.

For his part, Oliver says he won’t interfere with internal decisions of commercial banks.

He also says he has no current plans to introduce new rules for residential mortgages.

Oliver’s approach differs from that of his predecessor, Jim Flaherty, who called the Bank of Montreal in 2013 to express his disapproval of its decision to offer a special low rate.

“I do not intend to interfere with the day-to-day operations of the banks,” Oliver said in a statement Friday.