The Canadian dollar, called the loonie, took a dive this morning to it's lowest level in the last decade, falling from 0.1 per cent to 1.3199 per U.S. dollar, reported the Globe and Mail. As of today, one Canadian dollar buys 75.76 U.S. cents, marking the lowest level since August 2004.
Andrew Pyle, a fund manager at ScotiaMcLeod Inc. in Peterborough, Ontario, shared his thoughts on the uncertainty of the current Canadian economy in the face of the U.S.
"We're still dealing with the uncertainty of where the economy really is," said Pyle. "Up to now, the vibrancy of the U.S. economy has been one of the offsetting things for Canada. I'm not sure this week that's such a certain bet anymore."
Mark Chandler, head of Canadian fixed-income strategy at Royal Bank of Canada's RBC Capital Markets unit, echoed similar sentiments.
"The combination of deteriorating financial conditions and weaker oil prices presents serious hurdles beyond the very near-term economic outlook," Chandler said.
Currently, there's a 45 percent chance that Canada's central bank will drop borrowing costs back to the record low of 0.25 percent, reported the Financial Post.
Typically, the value of the Canadian dollar follows the price of oil and commodities. However, commodity prices are currently at a 16-year low, reported the Huffington Post.
The collapse in commodity prices continues to highlight global concerns about the growing strength of China's economy. China is currently the world's biggest buyer of raw materials.
"Today's falls are not about oil market fundamentals. It's all about China," said Carsten Fritsch, senior oil analyst at Commerzbank in Frankfurt. "The fear is of a hard landing and that things get out of the control of the Chinese authorities."
