Does BoC Governor Poloz believe in export diversification?

“Poloz’s first speech as BoC Governor in Oakville, Ontario had little in the way of hints as to his monetary policy view or policy leanings,” CIBC economist Emanuella Enenajor wrote in a note to clients as soon as the text of governor’s prepared remarks appeared online on Wednesday.

That is hardly surprising. Only a few weeks into his new job, Poloz is widely expected to stir away from giving the markets any indication of where interest rates might go until the Bank of Canada’s next policy decision on July 17. More puzzling was the governor’s scarce mention of emerging economies in a speech on the theme of rebuilding business confidence and boosting Canadian exports.

Poloz stressed the need for business investment and exports to fill in for domestic demand in propelling Canada’s economic growth forward, something his predecessor, Mark Carney, had also emphasized. But in speaking about prospects for Canada’s exporters, and particularly the manufacturing sector, Poloz seemed mainly focused on the recovery south of the border:

The gathering momentum in foreign demand, especially in the United States, should help lift the confidence of Canada’s exporters. This is critical for firms to boost their investment to expand their productive capacity.

Poloz’s speech contained only one, cursory, mention of China.

Carney had long argued that Canadian exporters must diversify away from the slow.-growing U.S. and focus on seizing market share in booming emerging economies.