Mark Carney In Nanaimo

Mark Carney

Addresses VIEA Summit 

 Unfamiliar process follows "Great Recession"

Bank of Canada Governor Mark Carney is in Nanaimo addressing the Vancouver Island Economic Association Summit being held today and tomorrow at the Vancouver Island Conference Centre.

During his introduction Mr. Carney noted:

While the “Great Recession” is over, what has followed is an unfamiliar process of repairing public and private balance sheets across advanced economies. The depth and duration of this deleveraging are unclear. Deleveraging is holding back the global recovery and laying bare distinct challenges in different parts of the world.

The euro area is stagnating as it struggles with an underlying balance-of-payments crisis. The United States is at the edge of a fiscal cliff. China and other emerging markets are trying to sustain rapid growth amid weak demand in their traditional export markets.

There is a synchronous slowdown under way in the global economy. This past weekend in Tokyo, when the International Monetary Fund (IMF) marked down its growth forecast, no region or major economy was spared. Further, the IMF warned that downside risks have risen.

Against this background, it is not surprising that uncertainty over the global economic outlook is high. It is being reinforced by concerns over how policy-makers will address these challenges. This combined uncertainty is further complicating the recovery, prompting firms and consumers to retrench. There is some evidence of this dynamic here in Canada as businesses feel the weight of darkening global prospects.

While I will not be able to dispel all of these concerns today, my objective is to explain how policy-makers are addressing some uncertainties and to put some others in their proper context.

You can read Mr. Carney's complete address by using this Nanaimo Info LINK.