Economy professor Selami Xhepa said it’s time for Albania to start using euro.

Talking for Euronews Albania, he argued that the use of his currency has risen lately. According to Xhepa, it’s only a matter of time until Albania starts using it officially, given that the country is in the EU integration process.

“In my judgement, it is time to transition to euro as the official currency. If that happened, the exchange rate would be decided by other factors. Since we’re already in the integration process, so is the adaption of the currency. The issue is not if Albania will transition to it or not, the question is when will that happen. Since we have very strong movements, because our market is so small, a quick transition to euro would be the way to go,” he advised.

The euro has considerably fallen and exporters have warned the economy could resemble that of 1992, after the transition from communism to democracy. This is why they requested for the Bank and the Finance Ministry to intervene.

Only few exclusive and special importing subjects have profited from the euro devaluation. The manufacturing and exporting industry, as well as the local tourism have been severely damaged by it, leading many entities to bankruptcy.

Last week, euro reached a new historical low, exchanging at only 111.03 Albanian lek. It is now common that the currency is devaluated every time there is a campaign. Economical subjects expect for the situation to get better after the elections.