Balance of Payments for 1st Quarter
Provided by: Statistics Canada
Official Release: Press Release

The Canadian Dollar got a boost following the better than expected release. The USD/CAD pair wiped away the gains the greenback has accumulated during the week and made the pair test support at 0.9820.

From the Release: "The current account surplus with the rest of the world (on a seasonally adjusted basis) increased sharply to $5.6 billion in the first quarter of 2008, led by higher prices for several exported commodities combined with a lower travel deficit. The deficits on commercial services and investment income were largely unchanged.

In the capital and financial account (not seasonally adjusted), foreign direct investment flows into Canada slowed significantly from the acquisitions-driven pace of the previous quarter, while Canadian direct investment abroad continued to strengthen. Canadian portfolio investors focused on foreign equities, while their non-resident counterparts' investment flows were dominated by federal bonds.

The goods surplus widened to $13.4 billion during the first quarter, up strongly from the previous two quarters. Much of the increase came from gains on the export side that were again dominated by the growth in the value of exports of energy products."

Balance of Payments for 4th Quarter
Provided by: Statistics Canada

"For the first time since the second quarter of 1999, the current account balance with the rest of the world was in deficit. The balance deteriorated $1.8 billion from the previous quarter to negative $513 million in the fourth quarter (on a seasonally adjusted basis). A lower goods surplus, and record travel deficit, contributed significantly to the emergence of this small deficit."

"For 2007 as a whole, the current account surplus narrowed to $14.2 billion, down sharply from the 2006 surplus of $23.6 billion. This narrowing surplus occurred against the backdrop of a Canadian dollar that made strong gains against major foreign currencies in 2007, particularly the American dollar and the British pound. This generally made Canada's exports more expensive and its imports cheaper, with consequence for the current account balance."