Finance: Cashflow Management, Financial Literacy, Market Disruptions, Business Management

Posted Date: March 31, 2023

As the world recovered from the pandemic, surges in demand led to shortages in supply, which were exacerbated by several events, including Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, domestic and international political tensions, and the increasing urgency for climate action resulting in new policies, targets, and practices. The result of this [im]perfect storm is the current inflation we are experiencing, which went from -0.4% in January 2022 to 8.1% in June 2022. Moreover, inflation has been made more complex by the emergence of new price drivers, such as fossilflation, greenflation, and climateflation, which had already begun to impact economies around the world amidst the urgency of ensuring an effective and timely net-zero transition.

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Markets: Market Disruptions

Posted Date: March 10, 2023

China is home to nearly 1.5 billion people and is the world’s second largest economy, valued at USD$17.74 trillion in 2021. Canada’s agri-food exports to China represented almost CAD$9.4 billion in 2020, an increase of 43.3% from 2019. While China’s continued growth has been beneficial for exporters and significantly alleviated its domestic poverty rates metrics, the pace of its growth has also left some behind. Moreover, while its historical growth rate has been quite high, its potential growth may slow, with trade implications for exporters like Canada. These implications may be compounded by an increasingly inward-facing approach to development, as well as several key structural factors, including access to food, energy, and healthcare; an ageing population; and food security concerns. Due to the nature of today’s global supply chain, any instability in China has potential risks for its trade partners.

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