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Canada To Lead G7 in GDP Growth in '09

Posted On: 2008-10-08

Canada will lead the other G7 countries in economic growth in 2009, a muted honour considering that the global economy should slow markedly, according to a new IMF study released Wednesday.

The International Monetary Fund said this country should see economic growth in the range of 1.2 per cent next year, less than half of what Canda experienced in 2007, but the best performance among Japan, the United States, Italy, France, Germany and the United Kingdom.

Still, Canada's economy is not immune from the ongoing global financial collapse, said the international monetary think-tank.

"Although resource-intensive sectors have benefited from high commodity prices, the lagged effects of past real appreciation of the Canadian dollar, together with the United States slowdown, has hit manufacturing hard," said the IMF's World Economic Outlook, produced just ahead of a two-day meeting between IMF and World Bank officials.

Overall, the world economy will grow by 3.9 per cent in 2008 and three per cent in 2009. That level is 40 per cent slower than the five per cent increase it averaged for 2004-2007.

The IMF anticipates the U.S. economy will stumble badly next year, posting a microscopic growth rate of 0.1 per cent next year, a far cry even from this year's expected GDP increase of 1.6 per cent.

All of the major industralized countries are grappling with the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression in the 1930s, the IMF said.

CBC News.ca
Posted Wednesday, October 8, 2008, 3:02PM ET
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