Canadian financial system rated strongest in the world
October 2008:
Canada has the soundest financial system on the globe, according to a new report from the World Economic Forum, which also placed Canada on the top 10 list of the world’s most competitive countries.
Based on the opinion of executives, the 2008-2009 Global Competitiveness Report ranks 134 countries on a variety of “pillars”, or factors, ranging from institutions and infrastructure to technological readiness and innovation.
Within the pillar analyzing financial markets, Canada snatched the top grade for its soundness of banks, plus made the top 10 for its strength of investor protection (5th) and financial market sophistication (6th).
The report would appear to confirm Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s comments on Wednesday when he said other countries should follow Canada’s lead in developing mortgage market rules to prevent homebuyers from getting too deeply into debt.
“Our government saw the U.S. problems coming more than a year ago, so we weatherproofed Canada’s banks before the storm hit,” the Prime Minister said. “We’ve had a plan for the past year to deal with the banking crisis … and it’s why our banks are safe and other countries’ banks are not.”
Source: World Economic Forum, October 2008
