UPDATE 1-Bank of Canada's Poloz more optimistic about global economy

(Adds comment from Poloz, Morneau)
By Andrea Hopkins
WASHINGTON, April 15 (Reuters) - Bank of Canada Governor
Stephen Poloz said on Friday he was more encouraged about the
state of the global economy after hearing from his G20
colleagues at the spring meeting of the group than he was
heading into the discussions.
In holding key overnight rates steady this week, the Bank of
Canada said in its Monetary Policy Report that weaker global
growth was one of the biggest downside risks to Canada's
export-driven economy.
"I think compared to when we were in Shanghai (in February),
people were in a more positive frame and I think that has partly
to do with markets having gone into a slightly calmer phase, but
also some better numbers have come in," Poloz told reporters in
a joint news conference with Finance Minister Bill Morneau,
noting that China's first-quarter data was in line with
expectations.
"That is the kind of thing that is reassuring. So I come
away feeling a little bit more encouraged, I would say, than
when I arrived," he said.
Morneau agreed that the "tone and tenor" from colleagues
around the table was better than two months earlier at the
Shanghai meeting.
Noting the divergence in inflation risk between the United
States and Canada, Poloz said the risk of an overshoot in
inflation is "pretty far away" for Canada and that the U.S.
economy is "quite a bit ahead of us."
While investors expect the U.S. Federal Reserve to raise
rates later this year, Canada could hold official interest rates
at 0.50 percent - near a historic low - into 2017.
Poloz also dismissed the suggestion that a recent rise in
the price of oil to about $40 a barrel from $30 a barrel
previously was a bad thing for the Canadian economy because it
could make exports less competitive by helping to push up the
value of the Canadian dollar.
"A drop in oil prices is unambiguously negative for the
Canadian economy, all things considered," Poloz said.
He also said that global central banks still have tools to
ease monetary policy if needed.
"There is pretty general agreement amongst the central
bankers that we all have ammo, as you put it, we have room to
maneuver. I guess it is fair to say we've discovered we have
more room to maneuver than we thought we had five years ago in
the way of the financial crisis," Poloz said.