Canada's annualised growth hits 3.6 percent

Sharply higher exports helped boost Canada's annualised economic growth for the third quarter of 2005 up to 3.6 percent from 3.4 percent in the second quarter, Statistics Canada said on Wednesday.
The increase, which matched analysts' predictions, shows the economy is running near full capacity. The Bank of Canada is widely expected to raise interest rates again next week to keep inflation in check. The implicit price index - the broadest measure of prices of goods and services - increased 1.9 percent in the July-September period, marking the highest rise since the third quarter of 1983. The increase in the latest figure was mainly due to spiking oil and energy prices.