Canada's Monetary Reserves Decrease by $495 Million in June

By Robb M. Stewart

OTTAWA--Canada's official international reserves decreased by $495 million last month, driven by a net loss on investments, the federal finance department said Monday.

The country's reserves of foreign currencies and other monetary assets totaled $126.43 billion as of June 30, a decline from $126.93 billion the month before.

The government reported no intervention in the foreign-currency market, and there were no gold holdings at the end of the month.

All reserve figures are reported in U.S. dollars.

The finance department said that the amount of Canada bills outstanding fell by $106 million to $1.37 billion as of the end of June. Canada bills are short-term securities sold on the U.S. money market.

At June 30, foreign-currency reserves included securities of $88.27 billion, deposits of $8.28 billion, special drawing rights of $23.67 billion, and a reserve position in the International Monetary Fund of $4.01 billion, the finance department said.

The $495 million net decrease in reserves in June involved:

--reserves management operations up $200 million;

--return on investments up $285 million;

--foreign-currency debt charges down $120 million;

--revaluation effects down $860 million;

--no net government operations;

--no official intervention reported.

The currency composition of deposits and securities at the end of June included: $65.95 billion U.S. dollars, $16.03 billion euros, $8.29 billion pounds sterling, and $6.27 billion yen.

Write to Robb M. Stewart at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

07-06-26 1826ET