TORONTO, April 5 Reuters The Canadian dollar is set to rally over the coming year, after a period in which it consolidates its recent gains, as an expected slowdown in economic activity stops short of a hard landing for the economy, a Reuters poll showed on Wednesday.

Since early March the Canadian currency has rallied about 3 against its U.S. counterpart as worries the global banking crisis would lead to a credit crunch eased and the U.S. dollar lost ground against a basket of major currencies.

A surge this week in the price of oil, one of Canada39;s major exports, has added further momentum for the currency. It touched on Tuesday its strongest intraday level in almost seven weeks, near 1.34 per U.S. dollar, or 74.63 U.S. cents.

The median forecast of nearly 50 currency analysts was for the loonie to weaken to 1.35 per U.S. dollar in three months39; time, compared to 1.34 expected in last month39;s forecast. But it was then expected to rally to 1.30 in a year, which is a gain of 3.5.

It39;s basically a reflection that you get the moderation in economic growth … more of a soft landing than a hard landing, and so the CAD can do okay in that environment, said Mazen Issa, senior FX strategist at TD Securities.

But if the U.S. outlook becomes particularly precarious, if lending conditions tighten significantly … then we could have a little more problems globally.

The Bank of Canada is ready to step in with support if the banking system comes under severe strain,…