Canada Monetary Reserves Increase $793 Million in December

By Robb M. Stewart

OTTAWA--Canada's official international reserves rose by $793 million in December, the federal finance department said Thursday.

As of Dec. 30, the country's reserves of foreign currencies and other monetary assets totaled $107.26 billion, an increase from $106.46 billion a month earlier.

The government reported no intervention in the foreign-currency market in December, 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 $248 million to $1.85 billion as of the end of December. Canada bills are short-term securities sold on the U.S. money market.

At Dec. 30, foreign-currency reserves included securities of $73.95 billion, deposits of $5.78 billion, special drawing rights of $22.88 billion, and a reserve position in the International Monetary Fund of $4.35 billion, the finance department said.

The $793 million net increase in reserves in December involved:

--reserves management operations up $502 million;

--return on investments down $561 million;

--foreign-currency debt charges down $93 million;

--revaluation effects up $945 million;

--no net government operations;

--no official intervention reported.

The currency composition of deposits and securities at Dec. 30 included: U.S. dollars $56.65 billion, euro $9.92 billion, pound sterling $6.51 billion, and yen $6.65 billion.

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

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

01-05-23 0829ET