13 December 2005

Who's laughing at Canuck Bucks now?

Dollar hits 14-year high

Maybe people (Americans) will stop making the loonie the butt of their money jokes now...ah hell, who am I kidding? Like they're ever going to hear about this!

The Canadian dollar reached a new 14-year high of US86.81 cents Monday and will continue to trend upward because of surging energy prices and continued weakness in the deficit-plagued US economy, a top British Columbia economist predicts. Helmut Pastrick, chief economist for Credit Union Central BC, said continued strength in oil coupled with the Bank of Canada tightening its monetary policy with rising interest rates will help support a higher dollar in the longer term. "The run-up in oil is seasonal," Pastrick added. "Of course the longer-term story is more demand than in supply. Those two factors are favourable for the Canadian dollar." In the medium term, Pastrick expects there to be volatility in the dollar's value and that it will eventually slip from current levels, but "I'm of the view that the trend is generally upward."
(Vancouver Sun 051213)

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