Tausi Insider

Canada’s exports rose in October, largely driven by pharmaceutical products, while imports were also up, largely as a result of a depreciation of the Canadian dollar, data showed on Tuesday. The country’s trade surplus with the world grew to $1.21-billion in October, Statistics Canada said, slightly above analysts’ forecasts of a surplus of $1.20-billion. Exports rose 1.5 per cent, helped by higher exports of medicinal products as well as gold bars and coins to the United States, Statscan said. By volume, exports were up 0.1 per cent. Imports rose 0.6 per cent, but were down 0.9 per cent by volume. Motor vehicles and parts as well as metal and non-metallic mineral products drove the gains, while imports of energy products also increased, bolstered by incoming U.S. crude oil. “Canada’s merchandise trade surplus widened in October, with a weaker Canadian dollar providing a helping hand. Still, trade volumes look to have added to growth in the month,” said Shelly Kaushik, an economist a...

People shop at Fiesta Farms independent grocery in Toronto on Jan. 20. Christopher Katsarov/Tausi Insider In many homes, dry pasta is a ubiquitous pantry item. Busy families with picky eaters can prepare steaming bowls of cost-friendly spaghetti or penne in minutes, a salve to hectic schedules and stretched budgets. Of late, those costs aren’t nearly as friendly. Pasta prices have been climbing rapidly during this spell of high inflation, far exceeding the increases for most other grocery items. As of October, the price of pasta products had jumped 27.4 per cent over the past year, according to Statistics Canada, compared with general food inflation of 10 per cent. Dry and fresh pasta was up 45 per cent. The average retail price for a 500-gram package of pasta was $3.40 in October, an increase of $1.19 (54 per cent) from two years earlier. Food inflation takes a big bite out of Christmas dinner budgets It’s not just a Canadian trend. In Britain, the price of pasta products and cousco...