Canada’s official international reserves experienced a slight decrease of $45 million in the month of February, primarily attributed to a loss on investments. Despite this decline, reserves-management funding operations helped offset the impact, according to a statement from the federal finance department.
Overview
As of Feb. 29, the country’s reserves of foreign currencies and other monetary assets amounted to $116.25 billion, down from $116.3 billion in the previous month. The government did not intervene in the foreign-currency market during February, and there were no gold holdings at the end of the month.
All reserve figures are denominated in U.S. dollars.
Breakdown of Reserves
The finance department highlighted that the amount of outstanding Canada bills decreased by $340 million to $1.56 billion as of Feb. 29. Canada bills are short-term securities traded on the U.S. money market.
Foreign-currency reserves at the end of February comprised securities totaling $78.42 billion, deposits amounting to $9.87 billion, special drawing rights equating to $23.21 billion, and a reserve position in the International Monetary Fund totaling $4.04 billion.
Key Changes in January
The $45 million net decrease in reserves in January can be attributed to various factors:
- Reserves management operations increased by $982 million
- Return on investments decreased by $566 million
- Foreign-currency debt charges fell by $300 million
- Revaluation effects saw a decrease of $161 million
- No net government operations were reported
- No official intervention was recorded
Currency Composition
As of Feb. 29, the currency breakdown for deposits and securities included:
- $62.53 billion in U.S. dollars
- $12.18 billion in euros
- $8.86 billion in pound sterling
- $4.72 billion in Japanese yen
For further inquiries, contact Robb M. Stewart.