Canada Monetary Reserves Decrease $525 Million in February

By Robb M. Stewart

OTTAWA--Canada's official international reserves decreased by $525 million last month, driven by negative reserves-management operations and despite a net gain on investments, the federal finance department said Wednesday.

As of Feb. 27, the country's reserves of foreign currencies and other monetary assets totaled $128.13 billion, a decline from $128.66 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 the amount of Canada bills outstanding fell by $1.24 billion to $1.61 billion as of the end of February. Canada bills are short-term securities sold on the U.S. money market.

At Feb. 27, foreign-currency reserves included securities of $88.56 billion, deposits of $9.52 billion, special drawing rights of $23.73 billion, and a reserve position in the International Monetary Fund of $4.15 billion, the finance department said.

The $525 million net decrease in reserves in February involved:

--reserves management operations down $1.05 billion;

--return on investments up $1.2 billion;

--foreign-currency debt charges down $290 million;

--revaluation effects down $378 million;

--no net government operations;

--no official intervention reported.

The currency composition of deposits and securities at end-February included: $67.37 billion U.S. dollars, $15.99 billion euros, $8.35 billion pounds sterling, and $6.36 billion yen.

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

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

03-04-26 0829ET