OTTAWA, Nov 19—The Bank of Canada on Wednesday called for a coordinated economy-wide approach to boost weak productivity, an issue it said was becoming more pressing in the face of challenges caused by U.S. trade policy.
The speech by Deputy Governor Nicolas Vincent was the latest effort by the central bank to urge policy makers to tackle decades of underperformance and insufficient investment.
“Shocks to our economy have become more frequent, and we are too vulnerable to their impacts,” he said in a speech to Quebec economists.
“To put it bluntly, we’re stuck in a vicious circle. When productivity is weak, it’s much harder to meet current challenges and seize opportunities for the future.”…