The Governor of the Bank of Canada was in Calgary on Monday talking to the business community about the economic outlook for 2016.
Stephen S. Poloz was the keynote speaker for the 2016 Economic Outlook event at the BMO Centre and it was his first speaking engagement since being appointed to the job in 2013.
"For our part, the Bank of Canada will continue to promote low, stable and predictable inflation," said Poloz.
Poloz says the resource sector should not be deterred from making long-term investments because of the drop in commodities and that decisions made by players in the sector years ago were no mistake.
He reminded the audience of about 1600 that the Canadian economy has benefited in recent years from rising prices and says "we shouldn't ignore the resources that we have been blessed with."
"Without those investments (years ago), we would never have been able to capitalize on the higher prices, which boosted Canada's aggregate income," he said. "While an abundance of raw materials may complicate the management of companies and the conduct of economic policy, it's far better for a country to have resources than not to have them."
Earlier this year, he used the word “atrocious” to describe the Canadian economy and experts say the steep drop in crude from US$107 last year to US$47 this year is to blame for the shrinking economy.
The Bank of Canada downgraded growth projections for the country as a result and Poloz says oil companies are still revising their long-tern forecasts for the price of oil.
Poloz says the resource sector is still adjusting to the conditions and he believes it will take considerable time for the economy to recover.
(With files from The Canadian Press)
