This then allows those companies to compete more effectively for future export sales. Those increased sales eventually mean more growth and rising investment in the non-resource sectors of the economy, and more employment. In other words, the exchange rate decline helps to facilitate a shift in the economy’s growth engine from the commodity sector to the non-commodity sectors.
We have already seen stronger growth in exports of non-commodity goods such as machinery and equipment, furniture, pharmaceuticals, aerospace and electronics, to name a few. This is helping to offset the weakness in the resource sector tied to lower commodity prices, but this natural process will take time to translate into more investment spending and new job creation.