Portfolio investment assets held abroad by entities resident in Malta are estimated at Lm4.9 billion (€11.4 billion) as at the end of December 2006, the National Statistics Office reported yesterday. The Coordinated Portfolio Investment Survey (CPIS) is an annual survey carried out in response to recommendations by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), as a result of the importance of portfolio investment across international borders, reflecting the liberalization of financial markets, financial innovation, and the changing behaviour of investors. Together with a number of countries, Malta has been participating in this survey as from basis year 2001. The purpose of the CPIS is to collect information from each country on the market value of the stock position of cross-border holdings, subdivided by:

Holdings of securities that are considered of a direct investment nature (i.e. shareholdings of 10% or more) are not considered for the CPIS. Provisional figures show an increase of Lm565.7 million (€1,317.7 million) in the stock position of total securities. This is mainly the result of increases of Lm707.5 million

(€1,648.2 million) in long-term debt securities. Also, equity securities increased by Lm63.4 million (€147.8 million). On the other hand, short-term debt securities dropped by Lm205.3 million (€478.1 million), to a level of Lm0.3 million (€0.8 million).

A substantial amount of total securities are invested in Turkey in the form of long-term debt securities, amounting to Lm1,717.6 million (€4,001.0 million) or 35% of the total. Securities in the United Kingdom and the United States each account for 9% of the total, mostly invested as long-term debt securities. Investments in Germany and Italy account for 7% and 6% of the total respectively, with Lm357.1 million (€831.7 million) and Lm269.9 million (€628.8 million) respectively