Content
About the statistics
Definitions
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Name and topic
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Name: International investment position
Topic: External economy
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Responsible division
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Division for Financial Accounts
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Definitions of the main concepts and variables
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IIP follows the same concepts and classifications as the Balance of Payments (Financial accounts). Both statistics are based on the recommendations in the IMF Balance of Payments Manual (BPM5). This implies IIP stocks should be consistent with transactions, valuation changes and other adjustments in the Balance of Payments. IIP is primarily subclassified by function, i.e. direct investment, portfolio investment, other investments and reserve assets.
Direct investments
Direct investments are investments where investor's intention is to establish a long-term financial link and have an effective influence on the activity in an investment object. In practice, an investment is classed ad a direct investment when the ownership interest is at least 10-20 per cent.
Portfolio investment
Financial investment where the investors have no intention to establish a long-term financial link. In practice, an investment is classed as portfolio investment when the ownership interest is less than 10-20 per cent.
Other financial investment (external economy)
Other financial investments is a residual category that covers all investments that are not included in direct investment, portfolio investments and international reserves.
International reserves
International reserves are the central bank's reserves of foreign securities and other types of assets abroad, which are used in foreign exchange and monetary policy. In Norway, only Norges Bank has international reserves. In principle, reserves only exist as assets, i.e. foreign central banks' reserve acqusitions in Norway (e.g. in Norwegian securities) are not registered as "reserve debt" but as portfolio investments in Norway.
Market value
The actual price of a financial instrument agreed by the transacting parties.
Net financial assets
The difference between total financial assets and total liabilities.
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Standard classifications
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The classification of IIP follows BPM5 (Balance of Payment Manual 5) and ESA95/SNA2008.
The statistics is now published as International accounts.
Additional information
The International Investment Position (IIP) is the balance sheet of the stock of external financial assets and liabilities.