Canada Monetary Reserves Increase $3.08 Billion in April

By Robb M. Stewart

OTTAWA--Canada's official international reserves rose by $3.08 billion last month, the federal finance department said Friday.

As of April 30, the country's reserves of foreign currencies and other monetary assets totaled $121.03 billion, an increase from $117.95 billion the month before.

The government reported no intervention in the foreign-currency market in the latest month, 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 the amount of Canada bills outstanding rose by $485 million to $2.09 billion as of the end of April. Canada bills are short-term securities sold on the U.S. money market.

At April 30, foreign-currency reserves included securities of $82.34 billion, deposits of $11.29 billion, special drawing rights of $22.19 billion, and a reserve position in the International Monetary Fund of $3.58 billion, the finance department said.

The $3.08 billion net increase in reserves in April involved:

--reserves management operations up $3.95 billion;

--return on investments down $1.04 billion;

--foreign-currency debt charges down $305 million;

--revaluation effects down $530 million;

--no net government operations;

--no official intervention reported.

The currency composition of deposits and securities at end-April included: $67.14 billion U.S. dollars, $12.93 billion euro, $8.84 billion pound sterling, and $4.72 billion yen.

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

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

05-03-24 0829ET