Flaherty says Canada will face pressure to raise interest rates Finance Minister Jim Flaherty says Canada will be under pressure to raise interest rates in 2014, something Bank of Canada Governor Stephen Poloz has signaled won't happen soon. In an interview with CTV aired Sunday, Mr. Flaherty said clawed-back stimulus spending by United States" Federal Reserve will, along with calls by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and International Monetary Fund (IMF), leave Canada under pressure to raise its rates. I think the pressure will be there, because the Fed in the U.S. should stop printing money, and taper off as they say. And that should help," he said, referring to the dialing back of U.S. bond-buying, or quantitative easing. The OECD and the IMF have both said to Canada we ought to let our interest rates go up a bit. So there'll be some pressure there for that to happen. There's little sign that they will. In a speech in Montreal last month, Mr. Poloz said "at this stage, rates will stay where they are for quite some time." Mr. Flaherty also said Mr. Poloz had indicated to him there could "be some softening in the dollar," as compared to the U.S. dollar, something the Finance Minister signaled he'd welcome, to some extent, as a boost for exporters. "But the [Canadian] dollar in the 90s somewhere, it's good for manufacturing and we can still travel reasonably," Mr. Flaherty told CTV. Interest rates are the responsibility of the Bank of Canada, not of Mr. Flaherty, so it's uncommon for him to comment on monetary policy like the value of the dollar and interest rates. Asked whether Mr. Flaherty thinks Canadian rates should rise, a spokeswoman said Sunday the minister couldn't comment further on a subject "under the domain of the Bank of Canada." Mr. Flaherty also said Canada remains on track to balance its budget for the 2015-2016 fiscal year - right around the time Canadians are due to go to the polls. Yes, we'll balance. And it won't be close. We're in good shape," he said. Mr. Flaherty downplayed the significance of soaring Canadian personal debt levels, saying they're not a concern so long as the housing market remains strong. He also reiterated earlier comments that he hopes for a "soft landing, a gradual reduction" in Canada's housing market, and said the federal government would further tighten mortgage rules if it had to. Mr. Flaherty also told CTV that Prime Minister Stephen Harper "is not going anywhere" and will lead the party again in the 2015 election. Mr. Flaherty brushed aside questions about whether he might leave for a lucrative private sector post, joking it would "Be nice, my family would appreciate that." He said he is committed to running again in 2015. "We'll see after that," he said.