The Business Council of British Columbia is warning the province to “buckle up,” as it downgrades its 2020 forecast for B.C. amid economic turbulence and COVID-19.
“The environment is evolving very rapidly, things are changing quickly,” said council chief economist and vice-president Ken Peacock.
“So we should have said buckle up and keep calm.”
In its initial forecast in January, the council had predicted economic growth of about two per cent for the year.
But with the rapid spread of COVID-19, it’s now forecasting anemic growth of 1.4 to 1.5 per cent under an optimistic scenario, and growth of under one percent or even the possibility of a recession should the spread of the virus accelerate.
“We did say in our forecast in January it’s unlikely the provincial economy will slip below two per cent because there’s lots of positive factors — lots of non-residential construction, housing market coming back, strong population growth. We said short of a major slump we won’t see anything below two per cent,” said Peacock.
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