By Alastair Sharp
KITCHENER, ONTARIO, Jan 14 (Reuters) - Canada's prime
minister said on Thursday he was "optimistic" about the
country's economy and its potential for growth through
innovation and diversification, even as it has been hurt by
tumbling oil prices.
"I'm tremendously optimistic about the Canadian economy,"
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told reporters after touring
Google's GOOG.N offices in southern Ontario.
"We have work to do, there's no question about it, but we
got elected on a very straightforward perspective that we need a
government that bets on Canada, that invests in Canada."
The Liberals came to power last October after promising to
run deficits of up to C$10 billion ($6.96 billion) a year to
stimulate the economy through infrastructure spending.
Sources familiar with the party's plans told Reuters the
government looked certain to break that threshold this year.
Trudeau did not respond directly to a question on whether he
saw a need to fast-track infrastructure spending.
He also alluded to the country possibly moving away from
reliance on its energy sector as a key driver of growth.
"I'm very, very optimistic about our capacity to get Canada
moving forward in the right direction after a time in which we
had put all our eggs in one basket," he said.
Trudeau's comments come as the price of oil has fallen
toward $30 a barrel, the cheapest in nearly 12 years, sending
the Canadian dollar also to 12-year lows and prompting analysts
to downgrade growth projections for the year. ECILT/CA
Canada was in a mild recession in the first half of last
year, and the continued slump in oil prices has raised concerns
the country could face a similar situation in 2016.
Indeed, bets are growing that the Bank of Canada will act
again to cut interest rates to spur economic growth. Markets now
see a nearly 50-50 split that the central bank will lower rates
to 0.25 percent next week. BOCWATCH
Trudeau said he would be discussing the need for investment
in infrastructure and research and development around the world
when he travels to the Davos economic forum in Switzerland next
week.
($1 = 1.4360 Canadian dollars)
(Writing by Leah Schnurr; Editing by Bernadette Baum)