17 April 2012 (BNS)

The average savings of Estonian residents are bigger than of residents of Latvia and Lithuania, while at the same time Estonian households' financial liabilities per resident are also the biggest in the region, it appears from the SEB Baltic Household Outlook to be presented in Riga on Wednesday.

At the end of 2011, savings of Estonian households totaled 3,549 euros per resident and liabilities 5,359 euros per resident. The size of the negative balance was 1,810 euros, according to the survey. In Latvia savings totaled 1,853 euros per resident and liabilities 3,410 euros, the negative balance being 1,557 euros. In Lithuania savings exceeded liabilities by 50 euros, with the former totaling 2,413 euros and the latter 2,363 euros.

Triin Messimas, development manager of private loans at SEB, pointed out that savings are not spread equally across the population and a large percentage of families have no substantial savings. People who had put aside less money for an emergency than their one month's income made up 43 percent in Estonia, 78 percent in Latvia and 62 percent in Lithuania. The overall situation is made somewhat better by a reduction in the size of liabilities, as the average outstanding liability has dropped nearly 10 percent since mid-2011 -- from 5,410 euros to 5,359 euros, Messimas said.

The SEB Baltic Household Outlook, published twice every year, deals with topics like wage and income dynamics, borrowing activity of households, and demographics.