OTTAWA, Nov 12 (Reuters) – Canada will update its budget
forecasts on Tuesday in a report that may show Ottawa is
slightly behind schedule in its plan for eliminating a small
deficit, while also preparing a contingency plan for more
stimulus in case of a U.S. fiscal disaster.

The Conservative government’s finance minister, Jim
Flaherty, is scheduled to deliver a speech in Fredericton, New
Brunswick, on Tuesday at 1200 Eastern (1700 GMT). He will unveil
the annual fall fiscal update at the same time, according to a
government official who spoke on condition of anonymity.

MEXICO CITY, Nov 5 (Reuters) – International groups tasked
with safeguarding the world banking system conceded they would
miss a deadline for new rules aimed at limiting risk and
boosting transparency in the $648 trillion over-the-counter
swaps market.

At a meeting of the Group of 20 leading economies in Mexico
City, the head of the G20′s regulatory arm said the goal of
having strong global swaps reforms in place by the end of 2012
was not in the cards.

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Leading world economies plan to give themselves more time to meet their own targets for cutting budget deficits rather than risk aggravating a slowdown in many countries, chief among them the United States, G20 finance officials said.

Policymakers from the Group of 20 developed and developing economies met on Monday in Mexico and were set to allow themselves more flexibility on a target agreed in 2010 to halve their budget shortfalls by the end of next year.

MEXICO CITY, Nov 4 (Reuters) – Canada will report within two
weeks that it is “close” to meeting its target of eliminating
the budget deficit in 2015-16, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty
said on Sunday, suggesting Ottawa may still be a few billion
dollars in the red at that time.

Canada ran a fiscal surplus for over a decade prior to the
global financial crisis, but then fell into deficit as it
injected cash into the economy to stimulate growth. In 2009, the
Conservative government pledged to balance the books again in
2015-16 through government spending cuts and economic growth.

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – The G20 risks becoming a “paper tiger” unless countries follow through on commitments aimed at preventing another global economic crisis, Canada’s finance minister said on Sunday, fingering the U.S. “fiscal cliff” as the greatest risk.

Flaherty spoke to reporters as some of the world’s major economies looked set to miss agreed deadlines for reducing their fiscal deficits and for implementing new bank capital rules to safeguard against taxpayer bailouts the next time they run into trouble.

MEXICO CITY, Nov 4 (Reuters) – The G20 risks becoming a
“paper tiger” unless countries follow through on commitments
aimed at preventing another global economic crisis, Canada’s
finance minister said on Sunday, fingering the U.S. “fiscal
cliff” as the greatest risk.

Flaherty spoke to reporters as some of the world’s major
economies looked set to miss agreed deadlines for reducing their
fiscal deficits and for implementing new bank capital rules to
safeguard against taxpayer bailouts the next time they run into
trouble.

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – The world’s biggest economies will soon discuss how to punish countries that fail to implement tougher new bank rules in a crucial test of their resolve to prevent another financial crisis, officials said.

Countries that miss the deadline for introducing new rules — called Basel III — could be named and shamed as the world’s top policy makers try to sew up reforms to ring-fence the global economy from problems at financial institutions.

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Countries may face sanctions if they fail to implement new rules aimed at safeguarding the global banking system from another financial crisis, a senior Mexican finance official said.

New rules forcing banks to roughly triple the size of capital buffers they hold are set to be phased in over six years starting in January, after each country has finalized its own version.

OTTAWA, Nov 2 (Reuters) – Canada’s job market stalled in
October after two months of strong hiring, Statistics Canada
data showed on Friday, confirming expectations employment gains
would ease to reflect sluggish economic growth.

The economy added 1,800 jobs in the month, even lower than
the small increase of 5,000 jobs forecast in a Reuters poll,
while the unemployment rate held steady at 7.4 percent.

OTTAWA, Oct 31 (Reuters) – The Canadian economy unexpectedly
shrank by 0.1 percent in August from July, pointing to slower
growth in the third quarter than in the first half of the year
and supporting a Bank of Canada message that interest rate hikes
are less imminent.

The surprisingly poor performance prompted economists to
mark down their forecasts and sent the Canadian dollar skidding
to a session low against its U.S. counterpart.