INCREASING RISK OF FINANCIAL INSOLVENCY FOR CANADIANS A survey conducted for insolvency firm MNP Ltd. in December also found that 31 percent of Cana- dians say they don’t make enough to cover their bills and debt payments, was up 7 percent from their September poll. The poll also showed that the number of Canadi- ans who are $200 or less away from financial insol- vency at month-end has jumped to 46 percent, up from 40 percent in the previous quarter. The poll showed that insolvency concerns rose across the country, with the exception of Atlantic Canadians, with Saskatchewan and Manitoba residents most likely to be near insolvency, at 56 percent, up 8 percentage points followed by Alberta residents at 48 per cent, up 8 percent- age points. Ontario and Quebec followed at 46 percent each, up 6 and 5 percentage points, respectively. Among residents surveyed in Atlantic Canada, 45 percent said they were $200 or less away from the financial brink, but that marked the only decrease in the poll, as numbers decreased by 4 percent- age points from the September survey.
IMF CUTS FORECAST FOR 2019 ECONOMIC GROWTH The International Monetary Fund has cut its forecast for world economic growth this year, citing heightened trade tensions and rising U.S. interest rates behind the cuts. The IMF expects 3.5 percent global growth this year, down from 3.7 percent in 2018 and from the 3.7 percent it had forecast for 2019 back in October. U.S. growth this year was unchanged at 2.5 per cent but for Canada, the IMF’s estimate for growth in 2019 would be lower at 1.9 percent, down from its forecast in October for growth of 2.0 per cent. As for the Chinese economy, which is the world’s second largest, is expected to grow 6.2 percent this year, down from 6.6 percent in 2018 and the slowest China has seen since 1990.
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SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS MAGAZINE • FEBRUARY 2019
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