The Bank of Canada holds, says it's worried about NAFTA

The Bank of Canada holds rates at 1.00%, as expected.

The Bank of Canada held its key interest rate at 1.00% on Wednesday, as expected, and added that it's worried about the North American Free Trade Agreement renegotiations.

The central bank said in its accompanying statement that the global and Canadian economies are progressing as outlined earlier this year, and it continues to expect global growth to average around 3.5% over 2017-2019.

However, the bank cautioned that this outlook "remains subject to substantial uncertainty about geopolitical developments and fiscal and trade policies, notably the renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement."

The fourth round of NAFTA re-negotiations ended last week. The US came out swinging, prompting renewed concerns about the agreement collapsing.

The US presented a number of tough proposals, including the addition of a sunset clause, which would lead to NAFTA expiring every five years unelss all three countries agreed to extend it. Mexico and Canada rejected the US' proposals.

The next round of negotiations is set for November.

Last month, the central bank unexpectedly hiked rates by 25 basis points, citing stronger than expected data.

This story is developing...