Financial accounts of Lithuania for the fourth quarter of 2009

    FINANCIAL ACCOUNTS OF LITHUANIA FOR THE FOURTH QUARTER OF 2009     The pace at which the country’s financial assets and liabilities kept declining in several resent quarters slowed down significantly in the fourth quarter of 2009. Financial liabilities decreased year on year by 3 per cent, whereas financial assets declined only by 2 per cent, the smallest decrease in recent quarters (see Fig. 1 and Fig. 2). At the end of the 2009, Lithuania’s financial assets totalled to LTL 308.2 billion. Its annual growth rate was negative (–2%), whereas at the end of 2008, the annual increase made up 5 per cent. The decline of financial assets was driven largely by changes in lending. The volume of loans granted in the fourth quarter was lower than that in the third quarter by LTL 2 billion. The drop of financial assets was contained by an increase of their market value. Over the year, the market value of quoted shares and Lithuanian investment funds went up by 10 and 22 per cent u respectively. Only the market value of investment funds of the rest of the world fell down by 2 per cent. At the end of the year, the major investment positions were loans (28%), shares (26%), deposits (18%) and debt securities (11%). At the end of the fourth quarter, Lithuania’s liabilities totalled LTL 368.5 billion, and their year-on-year drop made up 3 per cent (in the same quarter of 2008, the annual growth rate was 7%). Loans and debt securities accounted for one third (34%) of total liabilities. In the final quarter of 2009, the ratio of loans and debt securities to financial assets made up 41 per cent.                       Fig. 1. Financial assets of Lithuania (annual growth rate)      -20 0 20 40 60 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Percentage Total economy Non-financial corporations Financial corporations General government Households 2007 2008 2009 2006     Fig. 2. Liabilit