The Census and Statistics Department had published in June this year statistics on International Investment Position (IIP) of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) for the reference years of 2000 and 2001, and external debt (ED) statistics of the HKSAR for reference quarter of Q1 2002. This is the first time that IIP and ED statistics are compiled and published for Hong Kong.

International Investment Position (IIP) measures an economy's stock of external financial assets and liabilities on a reference day at the end of a reference period. Gross External Debt (ED) refers to the sum of the non-equity liabilities components in the IIP statement of the economy.

This article gives a brief introduction on ED and its relationship with IIP and BoP.