NEWS HIGHLIGHT
Consumer spending to slow, says TD Bank
A new TD Bank report says Canadians should expect to see considerably
slower gains in wealth in the next two years, limiting their ability to
spend.
A new TD Bank report says Canadians should expect to see considerably
slower gains in wealth in the next two years, limiting their ability to
spend.
The bank report says consumer spending will slow from a more than
five per cent annualized rate of increase in early 2008 to about 2.6
per cent in 2009.
Canadians have been able to spend "almost like drunken sailors" over
the past two years because high commodity prices have brought great
wealth into the country, the bank says.
But most factors point to lower household wealth gains in the next
couple of years, including stabilizing commodity prices, lower house
price increases and higher unemployment.
The bank said that nominal gross domestic product, which includes
inflation, will fall from 5.9 per cent in 2007 to 4.1 per cent this
year and 3.5 per cent in 2009.
Real GDP, which adjusts for the impact of inflation, is also slowing
from 2.7 per cent in 2007 to one per cent this year, before recovering
somewhat to 1.8 per cent in 2009.
The Canadian Press
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