After a pick up of investment in U.S. government bonds in March, Canadians have been unloading their U.S. government debt investments, according to the latest figures from Statistics Canada.
Canadians sold $1.9 billion in foreign bonds in June, the result of Canadians shedding their holdings of U.S. government bonds. The divestment of U.S. bonds focused on instruments with shorter terms to maturity, between two and five years. Supply of new U.S. government bonds expanded sharply in June and yields of these instruments reached their highest level since October 2008.
Canadians also disposed of $660 million of foreign money market instruments in June, largely U.S. government treasury bills.
In May, Canadian investments sold $733 million of foreign bonds in favour of $965 million of foreign money market paper. U.S. government debt securities were the focus of this activity, said StatsCan.
In April, Canadians divested $720 million of U.S. treasury bills after making a $2 billion investment in U.S. government bonds in March.