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By David Milliken and Ana Nicolaci da Costa
LONDON, April 1 (Reuters) - Canada plans to stick with major
investment plans included in last week's budget, regardless of
the level of the Canadian dollar or a pick-up in short-run
growth, Finance Minister Bill Morneau said on Friday.
Morneau said he was "delighted" by stronger-than-expected
January gross domestic product data released on Thursday, and
added that a higher oil price would benefit both Canada and the
global economy.
Canada has recently struggled with a drop in the price of
oil, a major Canadian export, which also helped drive the
currency to its weakest level in more than a decade in January.
Asked whether volatility in the exchange rate made setting
long-term economic policy difficult, Morneau said:
"The long-term decisions that we are taking are decisions
that (are) right for the economy irrespective of the dollar," he
said at a Reuters Newsmaker event in London on Friday.
The Bank of Canada cut rates twice last year as plunging oil
prices pushed the economy into a shallow recession, and the
government last week proposed a stimulus budget to revive
growth.
Morneau said many countries were facing the same sluggish
growth as Canada and that his country was in a good position to
use fiscal policy to help the economy, given its low level of
debt to GDP.
Other countries varied in their ability to use fiscal policy
for the same purpose, at a time when interest rates were already
so low that monetary policy was reaching its limits.
"I think there is a consistent theme that we are all facing
the same challenge of growth," he said.
Asked whether he would stick to the same plans should growth
continue to strengthen as it had in January, he said he would
remain focused in the current plans.
Morneau declined to be drawn on whether Canada would prefer
to see Britain vote to remain in the European Union or leave in
a referendum on June 23, adding that Canada had always had
strong relations with Britain.
Canada has spent more than six years negotiating a trade
deal with the EU, which some supporters of Britain leaving the
EU say could be a model for Britain.
(Editing by Larry King)