Canada’s merchandise trade deficit with the rest of the world nearly vanished in June as exports grew dramatically, Statistics Canada reported Wednesday.
The trade deficit came in at $476 million, compared to the revised $3.4 billion deficit recorded the month before. June’s trade figures were markedly better than the $2.9 billion deficit that the market had been expecting..
Exports increased 6.3 per cent to $44.3 billion in June, while imports dropped 0.6 per cent to $45.1 billion. That’s the best month-over-month increase in exports since December 2006.
Analysts said the falling Canadian dollar, which has lost about 10 cents against the U.S. currency since the start of the year, finally appears to be giving a boost to Canadian companies that ship to American markets. Exports to the United States surged by 7.1 per cent in June.
Export volumes rose 4.8 per cent from May. Statistics Canada reports that this was the first increase following five consecutive monthly declines. Exports were up in nine of 11 sectors,
The Bank of Canada had been hoping for months that the lower Canadian dollar and lower energy prices would give a boost to the manufacturing sector and to exports. But that benefit had been slow to materialize until June.
