OTTAWA—New Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem, already facing the double whammy of the coronavirus pandemic and slumping oil prices, must now also contend with the Federal Reserve forecast that the United States expects years of slow growth.
Some 75 percent of the goods that Canada exports go to the United States, which like Canada is grappling with historic losses in output and jobs caused by COVID-19 shutdowns. Fed Chair Jerome Powell said on Wednesday the United States faced “a long road” to recovery and the Fed forecast interest rates languishing near zero through 2022.
