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OTTAWA — Despite eking out only meagre growth in 2015 after a first-half downturn, the Canadian economy is expected to keep pace with many of its Group of Seven counterparts this year and next, according to the International Monetary Fund.

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The Canadian dollar is falling too far and too fast, damaging public and business confidence in Canada, say economists

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Still, that IMF forecast — tempered by the overall negative impact of the global collapse in oil prices and the ongoing slowdown in China — shows output in Canada rising by only 1.7 per cent in 2016, unchanged from the Washington-based agency’s October forecast, while growth next year should come in at 2.1 per cent, down from the previous estimate of 2.4 per cent.

In its latest World Economic Outlook published Tuesday, the IMF estimates Canada ended 2015 with growth of 1.2 per cent — slightly better than a 1.1-per-cent annual advance expected by the Bank of Canada, which has pegged growth of two per cent this year and 2.5 per cent in 2017.