No 4 (219) 25 June 2001

ESTONIA'S INTERNATIONAL INVESTMENT POSITION AND EXTERNAL DEBT
as of 31 March 2001

By the end of the first quarter of 2001 foreign investments made in Estonia formed 93.9 billion kroons, of which half, ie 46.9 billion was foreign direct investment capital. Of economic sectors, the investors preferred finance, manufacturing, transport, communication and trade. A significant part of direct investment capital came from Sweden (38%) and Finland (29%; see Figures 1 and 2). Besides direct investments, one fifth of foreign investments made in Estonia were made up of long-term loan capital, 15% were investments in shares and debt instruments of Estonian businesses (see Table 1).

57% of foreign investments made in Estonia were related to various debts. Estonia's gross external debt on 31 March was 53.2 billion kroons, which formed 61% of the anticipated gross domestic product (GDP) of the last four quarters. Other sectors (31 billion kroons) and credit institutions (19 billion kroons) had the largest debt burden. The government sector external debt formed 6%, ie 3.4 billion kroons of gross external debt (3.9% of the anticipated GDP). Two thirds of all debts were long-term (see Table 2 and Figure 3).

Estonia's investments abroad were half the size of investments made in Estonia - they stood at 47.4 billion kroons. The gold and foreign currency reserves of the central bank were responsible for nearly one third of Estonian capital invested abroad, one fourth was made up of Estonian residents' settlement accounts and deposits with foreign banks. The capital invested in foreign debt securities, sums due for the sale of goods and services and direct investments each formed one tenth of investments made abroad. Figures 4 and 5 display the structure of Estonia's direct investment position abroad by countries and spheres of activity.

Due to the predominance of external liabilities, Estonia's net investment position at the end of the first quarter was negative by nearly 46.6 billion kroons - as large as at the end of 2000. This makes 54% of the anticipated GDP.

Estonia's net external debt (debt foreign claims minus debt foreign liabilities) on 31 March was 7 billion kroons (8% of the anticipated GDP).

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Estonia's investment position and external debt as of end of the second quarter of 2001 will be published at the Eesti Pank web site at noon on 24 September 2001.

International and Public Relations Department of Eesti Pank

PS Please acknowledge the source when publishing or citing.
Ants Kaasik
Executive Editor

Table 1. Estonia's international investment position (EEK mn)(1)

(1) After additional information is received, data of the earlier period has been updated accordingly.

Table 2. External debt (EEK mn)(1)

Figure 1. Direct investment position in Estonia by spheres of activity as of 31 March 2001

Figure 2. Direct investment position in Estonia by countries as of 31 March 2001

Figure 3. Estonia's gross and net external debt

Figure 4. Estonia's direct investment position abroad by spheres of activity as of 31 March 2001

Figure 5. Estonia's direct investment position abroad by countries as of 31 March 2001