Estonia total overdue loans rise to 7.0 pct in Sept

TALLINN Oct 23 (Reuters) - The level of overdue loans and owed interest in Estonia's banking system rose to 7.0 percent of the total loan portfolio in September from 6.6 percent in August, the central bank said on Thursday.

It said outstanding loan stock plus owed interest increased to 18.18 billion Estonian kroons ($1.49 billion) from a revised 17.16 billion kroons in August.

The banking system is 95 percent controlled by four Nordic financial groups, including Swedbank (SWEDa.ST) and SEB (SEBa.ST) as market leaders.

Loans overdue without interest rose to 1.4 percent of the total portfolio in September from 1.2 percent in August.

The total loan portfolio eased to 258.6 billion kroons in September from 261.2 billion kroons in August.

Loans overdue for more than 60 days with interest firmed to 5.29 billion kroons in September from 5.28 billion in August.

Overdue housing loans rose to 6.06 billion kroons in September from 5.76 billion in the previous month.

(Reporting by David Mardiste; Editing by Andy Bruce)