Kosovo's net international investment position climbed to EUR 330mn at end-2012 from EUR 105mn a year earlier as the increase in Kosovo-owned assets abroad outpaced the rise in domestic assets owned by foreigners, data published by the central bank showed. Kosovo's foreign assets increased 11% to EUR 3.7bn, whereas its liabilities were up only 4.7% to EUR 3.4bn.

The assets increase came on the back of a 33% jump to EUR 987mn in portfolio investments, of which EUR 354mn were equity securities and EUR 633mn were debt securities. The country's reserve assets were up 46% to EUR 840mn, thus contributing 8pps to the overall rise in assets. Furthermore, direct investments abroad jumped 16% to EUR 118mn and other investments* were down 7.7% to EUR 1.8bn.

On the other hand, the value of foreign-owned assets in Kosovo increased mainly as a result of rising volume of direct investments in the country last year - up 3.6% to EUR 2.4bn and contributed 2.7pps to the rise in the overall foreign liabilities. Other investments* climbed 7.7% to EUR 928mn after the government issued EUR 156mn of external debt last year.

Although Kosovo has a status of a developing economy, it has been a net creditor nation since 2007 (earlier data on the net IIP is not available). On the other hand, the country's positive net financial position might indicate the relative investment unattractiveness of the economy.

*Other investments include the assets/liabilities of Kosovo’s central bank, general government, commercial banks and other sectors abroad.