Canadian Dollar Little Changed as Central Bank Cites Risks

By Matt Townsend

Sept. 23 (Bloomberg) -- Canada’s dollar was little changed after Bank of Canada Deputy Governor David Longworth said the country’s currency remains a risk to an economic recovery.

The currency fluctuated between gains and losses after the biggest advance against its U.S. counterpart in more than two weeks yesterday, as Longworth echoed concern about the dollar’s strength made last month by Bank of Canada Governor Mark Carney and Canadian Finance Minister Jim Flaherty.

The loonie traded at to C$1.0696 per U.S. dollar at 8:27 a.m. in Toronto, from C$1.0691 yesterday, when it rallied as much as 1.2 percent, the biggest intraday gain since Sept. 7. One Canadian dollar purchases 93.48 U.S. cents.

“Persistent strength in the Canadian dollar remains a risk to growth,” Longworth said in text prepared for a speech he’s giving today in Summerside, Prince Edward Island.

The Canadian dollar has strengthened 14 percent this year, making the country’s goods less competitive. Canada recorded its first quarterly deficit in traded goods since 1976 between April and June, a gap of C$1.71 billion compared with a C$16.2 billion surplus in the year-earlier period, according to Statistics Canada.

To contact the reporter on this story: Matt Townsend in New York at mtownsend9@bloomberg.net.