CPIS-97 Coordinated portfolio investment survey

An international survey, led by the International Monetary Fund, has been carried out with the objective of measuring portfolio assets abroad. The results of the survey, in which 29 countries participated, have now been compiled and make it possible, for the first time, to construct a picture of the composition, by countries and types of security, of different countries’ portfolio liabilities. The holdings are reported at market values, converted at the end-1997 exchange rate.

The results indicate that Sweden’s total portfolio debt is mainly held in the United States, the United Kingdom and Japan; these three countries account for half of the external portfolio holdings of Swedish securities. American investors are much the largest group of foreign owners of Swedish equity, with 48 per cent of the total foreign ownership; British investors account for almost 5 per cent. The largest position in bonds is held by Japanese investors, with over 17 per cent of the total external holding or more than 2 per cent of the total stock of Swedish bonds. Germany, Switzerland and Luxembourg did not participate in the survey.

For further information, please contact the Financial Statistics Department:
Roger Josefsson, telephone: +46 8 787 07 43.