Canada: Trade balance improved for a third straight month - RBC

Nathan Janzen, senior economist at the Royal Bank of Canada, notes that the Canada’s nominal trade balance improved for a third straight month but was still at an elevated $3.2 billion in March.

Key Quotes

“The headline trade deficit was still elevated at $3.2 billion but edged lower for a third straight month in March.”

“Details were arguably a little better than that headline itself would imply.  A 2.8% bounce-back in export volumes in part reflected a recovery in energy shipments but non-energy export volumes were also up almost 2% by our count. Import volumes also bounced back 1.2%.”

“The data will do nothing to change the Bank of Canada’s view that further interest rate hikes are not needed at the moment.”