Stimulus package may improve GDP

The gross domestic product will improve slightly because of the $150 billion economic stimulus package, said Don Drummond, senior vice president and chief economist at TD Bank Financial Group of Toronto. “I doubt that an economist came up with this plan,” he said, speaking at the TD Ameritrade Institutional Conference in Orlando, Fla. He predicted the stimulus package, which was passed yesterday, will increase the gross domestic product to around 2% in the third quarter and slightly more than 2% in the fourth quarter. Also, Mr. Drummond expected credit markets to recover and predicted that by yearend improved economic conditions and lower interest rates will stop the decline in the U.S. dollar. On a negative note, the economic slowdown in the U.S., Canada and overseas could lead to sluggish gains in corporate profits.