Bank of Canada: U.S. too slow in recovery

The United States is taking too long at economic recovery actions and is affecting other countries’ efforts, the chief of the Bank of Canada said.

Timely and credible action is required to address the impaired assets on bank balance sheets and to restore the normal flow of credit — a precondition for sustained economic recovery, Mark Carney, the bank’s governor, said. Progress on these measures has been slower than expected in the United States and other major financial centers.

Carney’s comments were in the quarterly economic report from Ottawa, the Globe and Mail reported Friday.

The criticism Thursday came a day ahead of the Washington meeting of finance ministers and central bank governors from the Group of Seven industrial countries.

At a news conference after the report’s release, Carney reiterated the need for more timely action in the United States.

There’s a need to separate the assets and recapitalize the institutions that are going concerns and that can survive, he said. Any country that faces those situations, it is always in its best interest and in the global economy’s best interest that they’re dealt with as quickly as possible.