A new Bank of Canada survey is sparking hope that economic recovery may be on the horizon.

According to the Bank’s fourth quarter survey, released last week, there are “some positive signs” for the economy and projections for future sales growth are “solidly positive.” These positives are related to responses provided by businesses, signalling intent toward more investment and expansion.

However, despite these potentially positive responses, the Bank of Canada has indicated that it has no intention to change interest rates, as many businesses still seem uncertain about the current and future economic environment.

The firms that were surveyed in general anticipated more growth this year than last, and planned to invest in machinery and equipment to address the eventual increase in demand, though competition south of the border has some wary. Over half of the businesses surveyed indicated that they planned to hire new staff, and only 11 percent expected cutbacks.

The Bank of Canada survey was conducted from November to December of 2013 and included 100 respondents from across the country.

Source: Wall Street Journal