Nonetheless, there is still a fair degree of uncertainty about the overall external environment, given the divergent performance of the major economies. Japan is still in recession and Europe has been slowing down. Because of this, we are expecting only a slow recovery in world commodity prices this year. In Canada, the recent driving force in our economy has been exports.
The strong demand in the US economy, the relatively weak Canadian dollar and increasingly competitive Canadian manufacturers are allowing us to sell into the United States very successfully. What we are expecting to see now, however, is an increase here at home in consumer and business spending.