No 8 (223) 24 December 2001

ESTONIA'S INTERNATIONAL INVESTMENT POSITION AND EXTERNAL DEBT
as of 30 September 2001

By the end of the third quarter of 2001 foreign investments made into Estonia amounted to 98.5 billion kroons, including 50.2 billion kroons or 51% of foreign direct investments, the bulk of which did not increase external debt (see Table 1). For foreign investors, the most attractive economic sectors were finance (23% of direct investments), manufacturing (22%), transport, storage and communications (18%; see Figure 1). The bulk of direct investment capital came from Sweden (36%) and Finland (29%; see Figure 2).

Compared to the end of the second quarter, the structure of foreign investments made into Estonia has changed little (see Table 2). Besides direct investments, an important role belongs to loan capital, particularly long-term loans (accounting for 19% and 15% of total investments, respectively). Total investments made into Estonia decreased against the second quarter mostly due to the falling prices of equity securities and redemption of debt securities.

Investments from Estonia abroad amounted to 50.9 billion kroons at the end of the third quarter. Over 50% of it were loans and deposits and over 25% was made up of the central bank's gold and foreign currency reserve. Direct investment capital (14%) is gaining more importance in the Estonian capital invested abroad. For Estonian investors, the most attractive economic sectors were finance (43% of direct investments abroad) and real estate, leasing and business activities (19%; see Figure 3). The bulk of direct investments have been made into Lithuania (44%) and Latvia (35%; see Figure 4).

Due to the predominance of external liabilities, Estonia's net investment position at the end of the third quarter was negative by 47.7 billion kroons, which accounted for 50% of the anticipated GDP of 2001.

On 30 September 2001, the total external debt of all economic sectors of Estonia amounted to 57.3 billion kroons (62% of the anticipated GDP) and the net external debt (external debt claims minus external debt liabilities) stood at 8.9 billion kroons (9.6% of the GDP). The dynamics of Estonia's total and net external debt can be seen in Figure 5.

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Estonia's preliminary international investment position and external debt as of end-2001 will be published at the Eesti Pank web site (http://www.eestipank.info) at noon on 25 March 2002.

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 m)(1)

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

Table 2. External debt (EEK m)

Figure 1. Direct investment position in Estonia by spheres of activity as of 30 September 2001

Figure 2. Direct investment position in Estonia by countries as of 30 September 2001

Figure 3. Estonia's direct investment position abroad by spheres of activity as of 30 September 2001

Figure 4. Estonia's direct investment position abroad by countries as of 30 September 2001

Figure 5. Estonia's gross and net external debt