Canada will have second-fastest growing G7 economy: IMF

The Canadian economy will grow by 1.9 per cent in 2017 and 2.0 per cent in 2018, a new report by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) says, which will be the second-fastest growth among the G7, ahead of the four European members and Japan.

Canada will be second only to the United States among G7 countries, the IMF said, with its economy expanding by 2.3 per cent this year and 2.5 per cent next year – up from previous estimates of 2.2 per cent in 2017 and 2.1 per cent in 2018. The IMF says uncertainty surrounding the incoming Donald Trump administration in the U.S. is making it difficult to forecast how the global economy will perform this year.

The Washington, DC-based IMF’s latest outlook for advanced economies as a whole has improved for the 2017-18 period, compared with its October estimates, due to somewhat stronger activity in the second half of 2016 and projected U.S. government stimulus.

But the IMF’s estimates for several large developing economies has been revised lower – notably India, Brazil and Mexico.

It estimates Mexico’s economy will grow about 1.7 per cent in 2017 and 2.0 per cent in 2018 – down 0.6 of a percentage point in each year from its October outlook.