Foreigners Acquire C$46.94 Billion in Canada Securities in March

By Paul Vieira

OTTAWA--Foreigners sharply ramped up their acquisition of Canadian securities in March while Canadian investors sold their foreign holdings, leading to the biggest one-month and quarterly net inflow of funds into the economy on record.

Nonresident investors in March purchased a net 46.94 billion Canadian dollars, or the equivalent of US$36.54 billion, in Canadian securities, Statistics Canada said Tuesday. In the previous month, foreigners added C$7.49 billion in Canadian securities. The data agency said this was the biggest one-month purchase by foreigners of Canadian securities since April, 2020.

The bulk of the purchases by foreign investors was focused on corporate bonds issued by Canadian banks, and shares of manufacturing and transport companies.

Meanwhile, Canadian investors sold a net C$23.98 billion in foreign securities, compared with net selloff of C$9.91 billion in the previous month. The divestment focused on foreign equities, Statistics Canada said, in particular large-capitalization technology stocks.

As a result of investment flows in March, international transactions generated a net inflow of funds into the Canadian economy of C$70.92 billion in March, and nearly C$120 billion in the first quarter, which the data agency said was the most yet for a three-month period.

The monthly international securities report covers portfolio transactions in equity and investment fund shares, bonds and money market instruments for both Canadian and foreign issues. This activity excludes transactions in equity and debt instruments between affiliated enterprises.

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(END) Dow Jones Newswires

05-17-22 0905ET