OTTAWA, Sept. 16 (Xinhua) -- International transactions in securities caused a net inflow of funds of 18.9 billion Canadian dollars (about 14.9 billion U.S. dollars) in the Canadian economy in July, according to Statistics Canada on Thursday.

Foreign investors acquired 14.2 billion Canadian dollars of Canadian securities in July while Canadian investors reduced their holdings of foreign securities by 4.7 billion Canadian dollars, following a record investment of 28 billion Canadian dollars in June.

As a result, international transactions in securities generated a net inflow of funds of 18.9 billion Canadian dollars in July.

Non-resident investors acquired 14.2 billion Canadian dollars of Canadian securities in July, the 12th consecutive month of investment in these instruments, for a total of 118.1 billion Canadian dollars.

Foreign investment targeted government debt securities. A foreign divestment in Canadian equities moderated the overall acquisition activity in the month.

Foreign investors added 13.5 billion Canadian dollars of government debt securities to their portfolios in July. This activity largely reflected acquisitions of federal government debt instruments with 8.1 billion Canadian dollars and provincial government bonds with 5.4 billion Canadian dollars.

In addition, non-resident investors added 6 billion Canadian dollars of Canadian private corporate bonds to their holdings, mainly foreign currency-denominated instruments of Canadian chartered banks.

Non-resident investors reduced their holdings of Canadian equity securities by 1.1 billion Canadian dollars in July, the second divestment in three months.

Meanwhile, Canadian investors reduced their holdings of foreign securities by 4.7 billion Canadian dollars in July, following a record investment of 28 billion Canadian dollars in June.

Canadian investors reduced their exposure to foreign equities by 5.2 billion Canadian dollars in July, their first divestment since March 2020, at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

On the other hand, Canadian investors acquired 1.1 billion Canadian dollars of foreign bonds in July, a sixth consecutive monthly investment.