Canada’s trade deficit balloons to new record

The loonie probably needs to fall further to shore up Canada’s lacklustre export performance, economists said Tuesday after a report showed the country’s trade deficit ballooned to a new record.Statistics Canada said the country’s current account deficit, measuring the difference between payments into and out of the country, increased by $3.3 billion to $19.9 billion from the first quarter of the year to the second.That deficit was largely due to the record $11.3 billion shortfall in the export of Canadian-made goods — the widest ever. One major reason was the Alberta wildfires, which closed many oilsands operations, hindering the country’s important energy exports. “The ongoing current account deficit and specifically the recent softness in goods exports, even outside of oil prices, is a further indication that we need the Canadian dollar to stay at current or even slightly weaker levels to aid the rotation in the economy,” said …