Bloomberg Up date Harper sees the bottom 블룸버그, 캐나다 경기 바닥쳤다?!

Harper Sees Signs That Canada Slump Coming to an End (Update1)

By Theophilos Argitis

May 8 (Bloomberg) -- Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper said improving labor and financial markets may signal the country’s economic slump is nearing an end.

“We may not be in a recovery, but I think we might be in a position where it’s not getting worse, where it’s truly plateauing,” Harper said in an interview with Bloomberg News, adding he’d like another “month or two” of data before coming to that conclusion.

There are “a lot” of signs “that we’re getting to that stage,” Harper, 50, said.

Canada’s benchmark Standard & Poor’s/TSX Composite Index closed above 10,000 on Wednesday for the first time since Nov. 4 and is up 33 percent from its March low amid prospects for an economic recovery. Canada’s currency rose to a six-month high today, and has gained 6.5 percent since April 22.

“The market has certainly taken to heart the economic green-shoot story,” said Stewart Hall, an economist at HSBC Securities in Toronto. “Over the last couple of weeks, the market is pricing in that very scenario.”

Canada’s economy created new jobs for the first time in six months in April, Statistics Canada said today, as 35,900 people found work during the month. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg predicted employment would fall by 50,000.

Stock market prices are “well off” their trough, Harper said in an interview on his Canadian Forces plane during a return flight from Afghanistan. Improvements in financial markets have proved to be more than just a “blip,” he said, and today’s jobs numbers are an “extremely positive sign” of stability in the country’s labor market.

‘Some Stabilization’

The country will also benefit from “some stabilization” in commodity prices, said Harper. Raw materials accounted for 56 percent of Canada’s export revenue last year.

An improving economy could ease pressure on Harper to provide additional measures to spur growth. Opposition parties have called on the governing Conservatives to take more steps as Canada suffers its deepest slump since the 1930s. Falling exports and weakening consumer spending probably led the economy to shrink at a 7.3 percent pace in the first quarter, the Bank of Canada estimates.

Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff, who leads the largest opposition party, has said he may seek to topple the government if it rejects additional proposals.

‘Too Early’

Any additional measures by the government will be based on “what’s right for the economy,” not pressure from opposition parties, Harper said. It’s “too early” to conclude whether additional steps will be needed, he said.

The government’s budget update, which typically comes after lawmakers return from their summer recess, is when the government would be expected to make changes to its fiscal plan, Harper said.

“The Fall update will be the natural point to do any significant course corrections,” said Harper, whose 2009 budget includes C$40 billion ($34.5 billion) in new stimulus over the next two years. “We’re not operating on a lot of data yet on which to make those kind of judgments, but we are looking at those issues.”

Harper spoke after a trip to Afghanistan, where he visited Canadian troops, and the Czech Republic, to begin negotiations with the European Union on a trade agreement. Canada’s exports will drop 22 percent this year because of weak U.S. demand, the country’s export development agency predicted last month.

Canada will emerge from this recession with a stronger economy than its biggest trading partner, Harper said, providing opportunities for international investors that may not be available in the U.S.

“With a stronger financial system than the U.S., with stronger balance sheets than the U.S. and with lower taxes than the U.S., we are now in a position to be the North American platform for Europeans and others who want to invest,” Harper said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Theophilos Argitis in Ottawa at targitis@bloomberg.net;

Last Updated: May 8, 2009 12:44 EDT

5월8일자 브룸버그는 집권 보수당 스티븐 하퍼 연방수상 의 말을 인용, 증시 및 실업율등 지표로 보아 캐나다 경제가 회복시에 접어든 것은 아니라 할지라도 적어도 바닥은 확인했다..라 보도 야당인 자유당은 성급한 판단이라며 즉각 반박..

캐나다 연방수상 이름도 틀리는
우리 교민언론 보시려면 아래
클릭!

5월8일자 브룸버그는 하퍼 수상의 말을 인용 증시, 실업율등의 지표로 보아 회복기에 접어들진
못했어도 적어도 바닥은 쳤다..보도 야당인 자유당은 성굽한 판단이라며 즉각 반박