While an independent council of private-sector leaders in B.C. is expecting B.C.’s economy in 2010 to do better than it predicted in January, the council is not as optimistic about the province’s growth in 2011.
Members of the Economic Forecast Council on average said gross domestic product (GDP) growth in the province will likely be at 3.3% this year.
In January, the council had predicted the economy to grow 2.9% in 2010.
Under the Budget Transparency and Accountability Act, the 14-member Economic Forecast Council provides economic advice to Minister of Finance Colin Hansen during the development of B.C.’s budget and fiscal plans.
Among the issues affecting the council’s figures were the reduced likelihood of a double-dip recession and B.C.’s better economic performance than Canada as a whole.
The council, which is largely made up of bankers and market researchers, noted that replacing the PST/GST with the HST was a sound tax policy move.
It downgraded its 2011 forecast to 2.6% growth from 3.1% during budget planning last January.
The council’s average annual growth forecast for 2013 to 2015 is 2.8%.