Canada: First steps to mitigate coronavirus – RBC Economics

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced first steps to help mitigate the impact of the rapidly spreading novel coronavirus (COVID-19). Colin Guldimann, an economist at the Royal Bank of Canada describes the measures. USD/CAD trades at 1.3823 after escalating in the last hours. 

Key quotes

“The federal government will allocate a little over $1 billion, largely devolved to the provinces and territories, and targeted to the health care system.” 

“We hope the government will announce funding and outline parameters for which firms would qualify in the upcoming budget, in recognition of the already meaningful economic impact the virus is having.”

“The Prime Minister suggested that the government would do more if needed. We hope to see an outline of what additional steps they plan to take, and a more significant scale of economic support, when the budget is tabled in the coming weeks.”