Bank of Canada cuts prime rate by 1/2 point

CBC News Canada's -

chartered banks slashed their prime lending rates by half a
percentage point Tuesday, mirroring a similar Bank of Canada cut in the bank
rate this week.At least five major banks - RBC, Bank of Montreal, National Bank of Canada,TD Canada Trust and CIBC - reduced their charges to their most credit-worthy
customers by 50 basis points. It marked the second time in a row Canada's
major lending institutions quickly followed the Bank of Canada's lead in
reducing borrowing charges by the same central bank decrease. In January,
the private banks dropped their lending costs by half a percentage point,
following the Bank of Canada's lead. Prior to January, however, the banks
had endured a blizzard of criticism when they only passed a portion of the
Bank's rate reduction to their customers, leading to cries of "gouging" by
consumer groups.