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TORONTO — The head of the Bank of Canada said a slump in oil prices is having an “atrocious” effect on the Canadian economy but a cheaper currency and incipient U.S. revival should help exports drive a recovery, the Financial Times reported on Monday.

Governor Stephen Poloz said in an interview with the newspaper that the central bank still had many options to help the economy if needed. These included pledges to keep interest rates low for a prolonged period of time — a practice known as “forward guidance” — as well as asset purchases.

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Poloz defended a surprise rate cut in January, saying that falling oil prices meant it had become impossible to return the economy to capacity within a two-year horizon.

“When the oil shock came, it was clear we would no longer be able to close the output gap by 2016, but by 2017,” the governor said in the interview. “Since we had some firepower, we took some insurance and cut rates.”