The FINANCIAL — Canada recorded its third-largest current-account deficit on record in the second quarter, as the data reflect the damage the commodity-price rout has left on the economy in the first half of 2015, according to Nasdaq.
The current-account deficit narrowed in the second quarter to 17.40 billion Canadian dollars ($13.17 billion) from an upwardly revised first-quarter figure of C$18.15 billion, Statistics Canada said on August 31. The previous estimate was a deficit of C$17.47 billion. The first-quarter deficit remains the second largest on record, trailing only a C$19.57 billion shortfall recorded in the third quarter of 2010.
The consensus among traders was for a second-quarter deficit of C$17 billion, according to economists at Royal Bank of Canada.
A strong gain in exports in the month of June helped mitigate declines in April and May, and hence offer some upward support to the current-account balance near the end of the quarter.
