Surprisingly positive results from two Bank of Canada business surveys would suggest the country is poised for a quarter or two of 10% growth, says a report released Wednesday from Merrill Lynch Canada.

The surveys, unveiled this week, said businesses are the most optimistic about their future sales prospects in almost a decade, and obtaining new loans is becoming less difficult.

Sheryl King, the firm’s chief Canadian economist, said the central bank’s surveys imply that the country is headed for year-over-year growth in the 4.25% range, given there is generally a strong correlation between the survey results and real GDP growth.

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Mark Carney, the Bank of Canada governor, suggested Thursday the markets might be premature in their enthusiasm about improving economic conditions, and are underestimating how long it will take for the global economy to heal.

His remarks, made in Montreal at the International Economic Forum of the Americas, came after a speech in which he went against the prevailing wisdom on economic prospects, judging by how markets have moved positively as of late.

“We shouldn’t overplay at this stage the green shoots. And we shouldn’t underestimate the scale of the challenge,” he told reporters at a news conference. “Private-sector demand has retreated and it is not imminent that it will come back with strength.”

The warning about feeble economic growth came even though Mr. Carney, in a speech to hundreds of key global policymakers, said the U.S. economy – which was the centre of the economic storm – “will likely” post positive economic growth in the third quarter, thereby ending that country’s worst recession in the post-Second World War period. Previously, the central bank had said the U.S. economy would start stabilizing in the second half of 2009,

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