Recent Developments in Global Commodity Prices: Implications for Canada

Abstract

The authors examine the recent evolution of commodity prices. They discuss the factors behind the price declines that occurred between the summer of 1997 and the end of 1998, including the key supply factors and the drop in Asian demand caused by that region's concurrent financial and economic crisis. They then review the effects of the reduction in world commodity prices on economic activity in Canada. They point out that the depreciation of the Canadian dollar against the U.S.dollar, together with the continued strength of the U.S.economy, has partly offset the negative effects on Canadian aggregate demand.