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Saudi Arabia is considering additional measures against Canada amid reports it plans to unload its holdings of Canadian stocks and bonds as a dispute over women’s rights activists intensifies.

Photo by Nasser al-Harbi/AFP/Getty Images

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Foreign Minister Adel Al-Jubeir, speaking at a news conference in Riyadh, said there was no need for mediation in the dispute. “Canada knows what it needs to do,” he said.

The Canadian currency dropped as much as 0.5 per cent to 76.21 US cents after the Financial Times reported that the Saudi Arabia central bank and state pension funds have instructed their overseas asset managers to dispose of Canadian assets starting Tuesday. The loonie rebounded shortly afterward to trade 0.1 per cent weaker at 10:03 a.m. in Toronto.

A source at a Saudi bank told Reuters the bank was contacted by the central bank on Wednesday afternoon asking for information about all their Canadian exposure – investments in Canada and foreign exchange positions.

The bank had received no instructions to sell assets as they do not have any exposure there, the source said.