Net international investment position
As foreign assets (abbreviation: AVS) is defined as the stock of all assets that keep the state, businesses or individuals from one country to another country. This can be both foreign shareholding (see direct investment) as well as to financial assets in foreign securities ( portfolio investment).
- 4.1 Statistics
International investment and balance of payments
The international investment position is closely related to the balance of payments. Foreign assets include the stock of foreign assets and liabilities at a particular time. In the balance of payments, capital flows ( investment) for a given period are listed. Capital outflows ( investment abroad ) lead to an increase in foreign assets and vice versa capital inflows (foreign investment in the country ) to the growth of the foreign liability position. Where a country more foreign investment than the reverse, ie it exports net capital, net assets continue to grow abroad. Mirroring this, the power balance in this case from a surplus. The development of foreign assets is however influenced not only by the investment, but also by other factors. In the stocks, in particular, the fluctuations of exchange rates and commodities prices and the change in stock prices hitting down.
Foreign debt
Foreign debt or foreign debt is a collective term for all the short, medium and long -term obligations / liabilities of an economy to the outside world from the trade and payments, and political commitments, such as reparations (see List of countries by external debt ).
Net foreign assets
The counterpart of foreign assets are foreign debt. The balance between the two variables is referred to as net foreign assets. In order to make statements about the wealth of an economy, the net foreign assets is so far better suited than the ( gross) foreign assets, since a high level of foreign assets, a high foreign debt may face.
The international investment position for Germany represents the respective reporting date, the amount and structure of Germany's external assets and foreign liabilities to the rest of the world