The Baltic Investment Group Bank (BIG) raised its interest rates on fixed-term deposits this Tuesday, 15 January 2008, to 6.5 percent per annum.

BIG's interest rates depend on the length of the deposit period, the amount of the deposit and the method of interest payment. For example, the interest rate on deposits with a fixed term of one year with BIG will now be 6.4%, while those with a fixed term of three years will have a rate of 6.5%. These are the highest fixed-term deposit interest rates offered by any bank operating in Estonia.

Piret Raudsepp, BIG's Financial Manager, says that analysts are forecasting further troubled times on the global share market in 2008, which has seen an increase in the popularity of fixed-term deposits, particularly among private clients. "The maximum 6.5 percent return we are offering on deposits is in the same class as the long-term return on more conservative investment portfolios, but those who have gone for deposits have done pretty well for themselves over the last few months, since the value of investment portfolios has decreased over the same period," Raudsepp explained.

Balti Investeeringute Grupi Pank AS is one of the largest banks in the Baltic States specialising in lending to private clients and is the leader in the small loans sector of the Estonian market. It employs a total of 400 people in the three Baltic States. The company's loan portfolio had exceeded 1.9 billion kroons by the end of the third quarter of 2007. Moody's, the international rating agency, has awarded BIG a credit rating of B1, with prospects for the rating remaining stable.

BIG's bonds are listed on the Tallinn and Stockholm stock exchanges.

For further information please contact:

Piret Raudsepp
Financial Manager
Telephone: +372 735 0923
E-mail: piret.raudsepp@big.ee