When the quarterly forecasts for provincial economic performance are issued by the chartered banks we start to get a feel for which way things are headed: both here at home and across the country.
We’re about midway through reporting season with BMO Bank of Montreal being the latest to join in. And, like the others, they see Saskatchewan’s prospects cooling. They now expect us to see growth of nine-tenths of a point this year. And while that is behind the national pace of 1.5 percent, it is still better than three other provinces.
None are in negative territory but the consensus is that Canada’s economy is currently in the midst of a slowdown.
Now they do see things improving next year and, given that we’re already in the fourth quarter of this year, it’s reasonable to assume things are about to or have already begun their turnaround. They are saying next year will see further growth – expansion of 1.2-percent which is better than four other provinces and closing the gap between us and the national average.
