- Foreign investment in Canadian securities continued for a fifth consecutive month, but Canadian divestment in foreign securities slows
- Statistics Canada reported on Monday that foreign investment in Canadian securities totalled $4.6 billion in February
- Foreign investors increased their exposure to federal government debt securities by $7.0 billion in February
- StatsCan stated that Canadian divestment in foreign equities continued in February but at a slower pace and was moderated by acquisitions of foreign debt securities
Foreign investment in Canadian securities continued for a fifth consecutive month, but Canadian divestment in foreign securities slows.
Statistics Canada reported on Monday that foreign investment in Canadian securities totalled $4.6 billion in February, led by acquisitions of corporate bonds. Meanwhile, Canadian investors reduced their exposure to foreign securities by $1.6 billion, a third consecutive month of divestment (after divesting $16.2 billion in January). Because of this, international transactions in securities generated a net inflow of funds of $6.2 billion in the Canadian economy that month.
Wholesale sales declined 1.7 per cent to $85.6 billion in February. Decreased sales in the motor vehicle and motor vehicle parts and accessories and the food, beverage and tobacco subsectors led the decline.
Canadian long-term interest rates were stable in February, while short-term rates rose to their highest level since July 2007. At the same time, the Canadian dollar had depreciated against the U.S. dollar.
Foreign investors increased their exposure to federal government debt securities by $7.0 billion in February. During that time, non-resident investors also bought $10.9 billion of private corporate bonds. However, foreign investors also reduced their holdings of Canadian equities by $6.6 billion in February.
StatsCan stated that Canadian divestment in foreign equities continued in February but at a slower pace and was moderated by acquisitions of foreign debt securities.
Sales of U.S. shares slowed to $691 million in February from an average divestment of $7.8 billion in the previous two months. U.S. share prices, as measured by the S&P 500’s composite index, fell 2.6 per cent in February.
