An economist for Central 1 Credit Union has lowered his projection for economic growth in B.C. this year to 1.4 per cent, saying the province鈥檚 economy will remain sluggish for the remainder of 2013.
Central 1 economist Bryan Yu said in a news release this morning that B.C.鈥檚 economy will gain traction in 2014, but predicts only a modest gain of 2.4 per cent.
Last year at this time Central 1 called for growth of 2.2 per cent for 2013.
That鈥檚 a slower growth rate that RBC predicted in its provincial outlook. RBC forecast a 2014 growth rate of 2.7 per cent, suggesting that increasing exports and more capital spending on major projects next year will help the provincial economy rebound.
Central 1鈥檚 Yu was more optimistic about 2015, saying in the release: 鈥淕rowth will increase to nearly three per cent in 2015 with further acceleration over the following two years as the U.S. continues to recover and large resource projects in the north come online.鈥�
Yu added that interest rates will remain low, but will rise to near-normal levels in 2017.
