The Chief Economist with the Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC) says a strong US economy continues to be good for local exporters, at least for the next three years.

Pierre Cleroux was in Steinbach this talking with local business owners and gave a little reassurance. He adds the demand from the U.S. is strong, their dollar is good and it remains to be a good market to explore for the next three year at which point he expects the U.S. economy to plateau. 

As for Manitoba specifically, Cleroux feels things are looking good at the moment. He indicates our economy continues to grow at a solid pace mainly supported by our exports noting 75% of Manitoba's exported goods go to the U.S.

"Interest rates are going to limit the growth because it’s having an impact and also low commodity prices but in general, we are going to have growth for the next three years," he adds.

Cleroux says despite all the doubt in the agricultural sector in 2018 with the trade negotiations, the world economy is growing so the world demand for agriculture continues to be strong which he adds is a good sign for the farming community.

"There is a lot of uncertainty but the bottom line is that the demand is strong so that is the good sign for the farming community."

Although it may seem like a big risk, Cleroux encourages businesses to invest in order to become more efficient and with comes more competitiveness.

"The other thing is, technology has become very important," he notes, "like technology can really help companies to become more efficient and technology is cheaper, easier to use than before so every company should really look at how technology can help them."

The price of oil has dropped 25% since November but Cleroux anticipates that will rebound in 2019. He does not expect oil to get back up to $100 per barrel but says it should come back to a reasonable level this year. Cleroux indicates a pipeline certainly would not be a bad idea.