Canada's Current Account Surplus

Canada's current account surplus with the rest of the world, on a seasonally adjusted basis, dropped $1.3 billion in the first quarter of 2005 to $4.0 billion — the lowest level since the second quarter of 2003. Higher imports of goods led to this third consecutive decline in the current account surplus.

In the capital and financial account (not seasonally adjusted), growth in Canada's foreign assets outpaced that in international liabilities for a sixth consecutive quarter. There were moderate increases to both direct investment assets and liabilities with continued growth in Canadian holdings of foreign bonds.

Current account - Goods surplus falls again. The surplus on trade in goods fell $1.3 billion to $13.2 billion in the first quarter. Imports increased $2.5 billion during the quarter while exports rebounded after a large drop in the fourth quarter.

This was the third consecutive decline in the goods surplus. Since the second quarter of 2004, the goods surplus has decreased by almost $6 billion.