Folks living beyond Canada's shores did not buy as much of our investment instruments two months ago.
Figures released by Statistics Canada this morning showed foreign investment in Canadian securities slowed to $6.7 billion in May on lower investment for all types of securities, mainly bonds. At the same time, Canadian investors repatriated $1.6 billion in funds from international financial markets in May, led by the sale of U.S. securities.
Foreign investment in Canadian debt securities was $5.5 billion in May, down from $12.8 billion in April. Reduced inflows mostly resulted from lower acquisitions of Canadian bonds.
Foreign investment of $2.0 billion in Canadian bonds marked a fifth straight month of acquisition of these instruments by non-residents, according to the nation's number crunchers but this was the lowest such activity so far in 2013. Non-resident investors favoured private corporate bonds for a second month as they added $4.1 billion worth to their portfolio, led by new issues.
The agency adds that these inflows were moderated by divestments, mainly foreign sales of federal government bonds and retirements of provincial government bonds.
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