Canada posts trade deficit of C$5.86 billion in June

OTTAWA, Aug 5 (Reuters) - Canada posted a trade deficit of C$5.86 billion ($4.24 billion) in June, as the growth in imports outpaced exports thanks to a one-time high-value import for an oil project off the coast of Newfoundland, Statistics Canada said on Tuesday. Due to the implementation of new software at the Canadian Border Services Agency, Statscan said that this month's data includes a greater degree of estimation. Exports were up 0.9%, on energy products, as well as farm, fishing, and intermediate food products. Imports grew by 1.4%, on industrial machinery, equipment and parts, as well as motor vehicles and parts. Following are the seasonally adjusted figures in billions of Canadian dollars:

Merchandise trade Jun May (rev) change pct May (prev) Balance -5.862 -5.492 n/a -5.859Exports 61.742 61.196 +0.9 60.805Imports 67.604 66.688 +1.4 66.664

NOTE: Analysts surveyed by Reuters forecast a trade deficit of C$6.30 billion in June. ($1=$1.3806 Canadian) (Reporting by Dale Smith; editing by Promit Mukherjee) ((promit.mukherjee@tr.com))

Keywords: CANADA ECONOMY/TRADE