US Q4 growth could be even weaker than projected, likely to hit Canadian exports: bank governor

[OTTAWA] If US growth in the fourth quarter is even weaker than the Bank of Canada is predicting, Canadian exports will most likely be hit, Governor Tiff Macklem told Reuters in an interview on Wednesday.

Mr Macklem spoke hours after the Canadian central bank released quarterly economic forecasts which predicted US fourth quarter growth would slow markedly.

"We do expect the fourth quarter to be a lot slower, to be relatively modest growth in the US" he said. "It could, of course, be weaker than we projected and if that's the case our export profile will likely be weaker than we've got in this projection."

Canada sends 75 per cent of its goods exports to the United States.

In an earlier news conference, Mr Macklem said the Canadian dollar had performed better than expected since July, despite weak oil prices. This, he said, could affect the competitiveness of Canadian exports.

REUTERS

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