XPost: misc.invest.canada, soc.culture.canada, can.atlantic.general   
   XPost: can.general, can.politics   
   From: abc@a123.ca   
      
   IMF considering loonie as reserve currency   
      
   Anchalee Worrachate and John Detrixhe, Nov 19, 2012   
      
   The Canadian dollar, nicknamed the loonie for the image of aquatic bird   
   on the $1 coin, has gained 2.5% against the greenback this year.   
      
   The International Monetary Fund said it’s considering classifying the   
   Australian and the Canadian dollars as reserve currencies.   
      
   The two “are to be considered for inclusion” separately in the IMF’s   
   “Currency Composition of Official Foreign-Exchange Reserves” data, the   
   Washington-based lender said in a report published on Nov. 14. They’ve   
   previously been included in an “other currencies” category in the COFER   
   reports.   
      
   The Australian and Canadian economies have been much more stable than the   
   top economies in the post-financial-crisis era   
   The IMF plan comes as Australia and Canada have shown more signs of   
   stability in the fallout of the 2008 financial crisis than the world’s   
   biggest developed economies. While the U.S., to the U.K. to Japan have   
   been coping with increasing debt loads, deficits in Canada and Australia   
   are forecast to be below 5% of gross domestic product in 2012 and are   
   expected to shrink.   
      
   “It really helps to cement the stability of these currencies,” Ravi   
   Bharadwaj, a market analyst in Washington at Western Union Business   
   Solutions, a unit of Western Union Co., said in a telephone interview.   
   “The Australian and Canadian economies have been much more stable than   
   the top economies in the post-financial-crisis era.”   
      
   The Australian budget is forecast to show a surplus that is 0.1% relative   
   to GDP next year, after a 3% deficit in 2012, according to the median   
   estimate of economists surveyed by Bloomberg. Canada’s may shrink to a   
   0.6% deficit from 1.2%. The U.S. shortfall relative to GDP is forecast to   
   contract to 5.7% from 7%.   
      
   Risk Appetite   
      
   “The Canadian and Australian dollars have been appreciating today, and   
   that’s partly to do with the better- than-expected appetite for risk that   
   we’re seeing across all sectors of financial markets,” Bharadwaj said.   
   “The Aussie’s gain seems particularly strong and also based on the IMF   
   decision to raise it to reserve status.”   
      
   The Aussie climbed 0.6% to US$1.0404 as 12:39 p.m. in New York after   
   gaining as much as 0.8%, the most since Nov. 6. The Canadian currency   
   advanced 0.5% to 99.65 cents per U.S. dollar.   
      
   The Canadian dollar, nicknamed the loonie for the image of aquatic bird   
   on the $1 coin, has gained 2.5% against the greenback this year, while   
   the Aussie has rallied 2%. Australian government bonds have returned 5.9%   
   in 2012, compared with 2.6% for Canada’s debt and 2.8% for Treasuries,   
   according Bank of America Merrill Lynch indexes.   
      
   ‘Others’ Rise   
      
   “Elevating the Aussie and loonie to reserve status certainly helps to   
   ascertain how global central banks are diversifying their currency   
   holdings,” Bharadwaj said.   
      
   The share of global foreign-exchange reserves denominated in so-called   
   other currencies rose to 5.3% in the second quarter, from 2% in 2007,   
   according to IMF data published in September. The percentage of reserves   
   denominated in U.S. dollars was 61.9% in the second quarter.   
      
   The IMF also counts the euro, the yen, the British pound and the Swiss   
   franc as reserve currencies with separate data points in the COFER   
   reports.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)