Canada headed for "technical recession:" finance minister
24/11/2008 17:17
Canada's Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said yesterday that Canada may be
headed for a "technical recession" at the end of this year and in early
2009.
"We may well be in a technical recession the last quarter of this year
and the first quarter of next year," Flaherty said during an interview with
Canadian Television.
Usually, a recession is defined as two consecutive
quarters of negative growth. The Canadian government has avoided the word, only
saying that Canada is not immune from the economic turbulence beyond its borders
before yesterday's statement.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper also said in Lima
yesterday that Canada could be in a recession later this year or in early
2009.
"The most recent forecasts, and there have been a series of
predictions...there is a suggestion that there might be a technical recession at
the end of this year or the beginning of next," he said.
"Indeed, the
economic growth is just about zero, perhaps a little bit less, but it is a
technical recession," Harper said.
Harper said he was open to the idea of
injecting a large sum of government funds into the failing economy over the
short term, provided that any resulting deficit would be a short-term
solution.
But Flaherty predicted that Canada would end the current fiscal
year with a modest surplus.
Canada's parliamentary budget officer, Kevin
Page, issued a report earlier this week that predicted a huge federal deficit if
the economy continues to weaken.
Canada has been registering huge surpluses
each year during the past decades, mostly under the former Liberal
governments.
Xinhua
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