Sign up to create alerts for Instruments,
Economic Events and content by followed authors
Free Sign Up Already have an account? Sign In
Quotes
All Instrument Types
- All Instrument Types
- Indices
- Equities
- ETFs
- Funds
- Commodities
- Currencies
- Crypto
- Bonds
- Certificates
Please try another search
💎 Reveal Undervalued Stocks Hiding in Any Market Get Started
Canada posts Dec trade deficit as energy prices fall, economy slows
© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: People walk on Stanley Park’s seawall near container ships anchored in English Bay in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada October 10, 2022. REUTERS/Chris Helgren/File Photo
By Ismail Shakil and Steve Scherer
OTTAWA (Reuters) -Canada posted a C$160 million ($119.1 million) trade deficit in December as energy products dragged down exports and slowed economic growth weighed on consumer goods imports, data showed on Tuesday.
The deficit was better than analysts' expectation for a C$500 million deficit, and was smaller than November's C$219 million deficit, which was revised by Statistics Canada.
"While net trade contributed positively to the likely 1% annualized gain in gross domestic product last quarter, the drop in imports points to weaker domestic demand," said Stephen Brown, senior Canada economist at Capital Economics.
Total exports fell 1.2% in December, dragged down by energy products, which fell for a third straight month in December to their lowest level in 2022, Statscan said. By volume, total exports were up 0.9%.
The decline in energy products was partly offset by exports of motor vehicles and parts, which rose 21% to C$7.5 billion, its highest level since September 2020.
Total imports were down 1.3%, largely attributable to declines in the consumer goods and motor vehicles and parts product sections. By volume, total imports fell 1.9% in December.
The figures show there was "not a great handoff into 2023, certainly not the handoff that we would like to see," Stuart Bergman, chief economist at Export Development Canada, said in an interview.
Last month the Bank of Canada hiked its key interest rate to 4.5%, the highest level in 15 years, and said it would hold off on further increases for now to let the eight rate increases in 10 months sink in.
The softening in domestic demand "is exactly what the central bank is setting out to do" with its rate increases, Bergman said.
Canada's trade balance posted a surplus for a second consecutive year in 2022, rising to C$20.1 billion from C$4.6 billion in 2021.
The Canadian dollar was trading 0.1% lower at 1.3455 to the greenback, or 74.32 U.S. cents.
($1 = 1.3436 Canadian dollars)
Related Articles
Add Chart to Comment
Confirm Block
Are you sure you want to block %USER_NAME%?
By doing so, you and %USER_NAME% will not be able to see any of each other's Investing.com's posts.
%USER_NAME% was successfully added to your Block List
Since you’ve just unblocked this person, you must wait 48 hours before renewing the block.
Report this comment
I feel that this comment is:
Comment flagged
Thank You!
Your report has been sent to our moderators for review
Add a Comment
We encourage you to use comments to engage with other users, share your perspective and ask questions of authors and each other. However, in order to maintain the high level of discourse we’ve all come to value and expect, please keep the following criteria in mind:
Enrich the conversation, don’t trash it.
Stay focused and on track. Only post material that’s relevant to the topic being discussed.
Be respectful. Even negative opinions can be framed positively and diplomatically. Avoid profanity, slander or personal attacks directed at an author or another user. Racism, sexism and other forms of discrimination will not be tolerated.
Perpetrators of spam or abuse will be deleted from the site and prohibited from future registration at Investing.com’s discretion.