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Current Account
The current account is the widest measure of a country's financial performance on an international basis because it includes investment flows as well as trade in goods and services.

Main Indicator: Current Account

Most Recent Release

August
28th, 2008
Actual Forecast Previous Revised Form
6.8B 8.0B 4.5B 5.6B

Balance of Payments for 2nd Quarter
Provided by: Statistics Canada
Official Release: Press Release

The current account in Canada widened to C$6.8 billion as higher prices for the country's commodities helped boost exports. "Once again, accelerating energy prices were the main factor behind the strength in the value of sales of goods to other countries. Despite a marginal decline in volumes, export values for crude petroleum were up $3.0 billion on strong price gains (+25%)." Still, the 1st quarter's figure was revised down and forecasts had the second figure coming in at C$8 billion.

From the Release: "The current account surplus with the rest of the world (on a seasonally adjusted basis) expanded further to $6.8 billion in the second quarter of 2008, led by exports of goods. These gains were mainly attributable to higher prices for several exported commodities, which pushed the goods surplus to $16.4 billion. Transactions in services and investment income had a dampening effect on the increase in the current account balance in the second quarter.

Net transactions in the capital and financial account (unadjusted for seasonal variation) were more subdued than in several previous quarters, with outflows of funds exceeding inflows. There was strong foreign demand for Canadian securities, in particular bonds, while foreign direct investment into Canada slowed significantly. For their part, Canadian investors continued to shy away from foreign debt instruments in favour of equity, while Canadian direct investment and other investment flows moderated."

The Canadian Dollar held its ground near 1.0450 during NY trading as the US releases a positive GDP report.

Table of Past Data

5/308/3011/293/15/308/3011/292/295/298/28
Actual10.7B4.2B5.1B3.0B6.5B8.4B1.0B-0.5B5.6B6.8B
Forecast8.7B7.0B3.2B6.0B7.0B7.8B3.5B0.0B2.8B8.0B
Previous13.3B10.7B4.2B5.3B4.6B6.1B6.3B1.3B0.8B4.5B
Revised FromN/AN/AN/AN/A3.0B6.5B8.4B1.0B-0.5B5.6B

Past Releases

May
29th, 2008
Actual Forecast Previous Revised Form
5.6B 2.8B 0.8B -0.5B

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."

February
29th, 2008
Actual Forecast Previous Revised Form
-0.5B 0.0B 1.3B 1.0B

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."

November
29th, 2007
Actual Forecast Previous Revised Form
1.0B 3.5B 6.3B 8.4B
Balance of Payments for 3rd Quarter.

The current account surplus for the 3rd quarter shrank dramatically, as the previous was largely revised down as well. The 1.0B surplus is the lowest since 2nd quarter of 2003.

The large drop in goods surplus(-5.3billion) sent it to CAD$11.1 billion, the lowest since 2nd quarter of 1999. Exports of energy fell due to drop in price of natural gas, although volume partially offset the drop in value. Other energy products had lower volume and some commodity prices fell.

Imports resumed an upward trend, adding to the deterioration of the surplus. The stronger Canadian dollar has made imports more attractive to Canada while exports less so to the world.
August
30th, 2007
Actual Forecast Previous Revised Form
8.4B 7.8B 6.1B 6.5B
Canada's current account surplus increased by C$2.2 billion in the second quarter to C$8.4 billion. According to Statistics Canada, most of the gains came from a third consecutive improvement of the trade-in-goods surplus. It saw a C$1.6 billion increase to C$16.3 billion, which is the highest level since 4th quarter 2005. Imports declined by C$2 billion to C$102.8 billion and were the major cause for the better goods surplus. Exports remained virtually unchanged. For the second consecutive quarter, the services deficit declined slightly but remained near its record high. Canadians continued to invest strongly in foreign securities, acquiring C$23.8 billion of foreign bonds and stocks. Foreigners however, sold 4.8 billion of Canadian securities, the first divestment in two years. The divestment was mainly in Canadian bonds, with only slight reduction in stocks.
May
30th, 2007
Actual Forecast Previous Revised Form
6.5B 7.0B 4.6B 3.0B
This is the highest surplus since Q1 of 2006. Exports gained mainly from energy products.
March
1st, 2007
Actual Forecast Previous Revised Form
3.0B 6.0B 5.3B N/A
November
29th, 2006
Actual Forecast Previous Revised Form
5.1B 3.2B 4.2B N/A
August
30th, 2006
Actual Forecast Previous Revised Form
4.2B 7.0B 10.7B N/A
2Q
May
30th, 2006
Actual Forecast Previous Revised Form
10.7B 8.7B 13.3B N/A

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