The Canadian Dollar pared its losses against the Pound and US Dollar on Thursday afternoon after a report showed that Canada’s current account deficit widened less than forecast in the last quarter of 2013.
According to the report released by Statistics Canada, the North American nation’s current account deficit widened to a seasonally adjusted figure of C$ 16 billion in the fourth quarter of last year, up from the C$14.8 billion seen in the third quarter. Economists had been expecting the deficit to have widened by C$17 billion in the fourth quarter.
According to the fourth-quarter data, the deficit in the trade of goods widened to C$2.75 billion from the previous quarter’s C$1.36 billion gap. Exports fell to C$120.12 billion, due to a price decline in crude oil and lower volumes of precious metals Canada shipped, while imports grew to C$122.86 billion, on purchases of consumer goods, such as food products and pharmaceuticals, and transport equipment.
The widening of the deficit was being blamed on a fall in trade and the recent run of weaker than expected data out of the US economy which suggested that Canada’s biggest trading partners economy may have slowed over the winter due to harsh weather.
Canada has been running a current account deficit since the last quarter of 2008 after energy prices tumbled in the wake of the start of the global financial crisis.
The ‘Loonie’ was able to push higher against its US relation after the ‘Greenback’ was weakened by the release of data which showed that the number of Americans claiming unemployment benefits last week rose to a monthly high.
Tomorrow sees the release of Canada’s latest GDP data. A positive figure is likely to send the ‘loonie’ higher against its peers.
Canadian Dollar (CAD) Exchange Rates
[table width=”100%” colwidth=”50|50|50|50|50″ colalign=”left|left|left|left|left”]
Currency, ,Currency,Rate ,
Canadian Dollar,
,US Dollar,0.8991 ,
Canadian Dollar,,British Pound,0.5394 ,
Canadian Dollar,,Euro,0.6580 ,
Canadian Dollar,,Australian Dollar,1.0058 ,
US Dollar,,Canadian Dollar,1.1122 ,
Pound Sterling,,Canadian Dollar,1.8520 ,
[/table]
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