​Canada's economy shows signs of improvement: Economist

Canada’s economy is showing signs of a rebound despite several global headwinds ahead, one economist says.

The Bank of Canada put the breaks on interest rate hikes as signs of an economic cooldown prevailed, but this latest GDP read, and the flash estimate for February, are not feeding into that narrative, Jimmy Jean, chief economist and strategist with Desjardins, said to BNN Bloomberg in an interview on Friday.    "We could end up with GDP rising 3.0 per cent in (the first-quarter of this year), which is above potential GDP, so that's not good news in an economy that's been overheating," he said.    Jean noted that market participants who have priced in rate cuts from the Bank of Canada following this period of pause could be miscalculating the situation.    While he believes the BoC will ultimately cut rates by the end of this year, he cautioned that an acceleration in economic activity cannot be ignored.    “The Bank of Canada statement clearly mentions that if the conditions are not showing a sufficient level of restrictions they are ready to hike rates again,” Jean said.