http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/0.../world_economy

WASHINGTON - The world economy will fall faster than at any time since the Second World War this year, with Canada's economy going along on the rough ride, the International Monetary Fund says.

In a significantly gloomier forecast than one released early this year, the IMF projects a 1.3 per cent drop in the global economy in 2009, with Canada's economy contracting by 2.5 per cent this year and the U.S. economy declining by 2.8 per cent, which would be the biggest drop for the United States since 1946.

"By any measure, this downturn represents by far the deepest global recession since the Great Depression," the IMF said in its latest World Economic Outlook, released Wednesday. "All corners of the globe are being affected."

The new forecast of a decline in global economic activity for 2009 is much weaker than the 0.5 per cent growth the IMF had estimated in January.

In a report issued in mid-March, the IMF predicted global activity would contract this year "for the first time in 60 years," though it didn't offer a precise estimate then.

Big factors in the gloomier outlook: It's expected to take longer than previously thought to stabilize world financial markets and get credit flowing freely again to consumers and businesses. Doing so will be necessary to lift the U.S., and the global economy, out of recession.

The IMF says Canada will only experience a sluggish recovery in 2010 with growth of 1.2 per cent that won't even retrace the backward steps it took in the latter part of last year and this year. It also expects the U.S. economy will stay at 2009's depressed level.

The organization also warned any recovery will depend on the stabilization of international money markets.







there's more blahblahblah, you can read it if you want

this sucks :( Ottawa lowered the lending rate to 0.25% in order to stem this (lowest rate EVAR!1!one!1) and most places are offering 5 yr ARMs in the low 3's right now for houses up here.

What happened to all this BS being over in late 2009? :(