Various reasons for slow growth

The effects of U.S. trade unknowns, lower oil prices and weaker housing and consumer spending are behind the recent deceleration in economic growth, a Bank of Canada deputy governor said in a speech Wednesday.

To help the economy get through this “temporary” soft patch, Timothy Lane is expecting the lower Canadian dollar to provide support.

Lane told a Washington audience that the loonie has been influenced by these factors as well as the indirect effects related to fiscal stimulus that has energized the American economy. The results have led the U.S. Federal Reserve to raise interest rates, he added.

“This combination of factors has been putting downward pressure on the Canadian dollar,” Lane said in his address to the Peterson Institute for International Economics.