The Albanian lek is continuing its upward trend against the euro in the early days of October.<\/p>\n
According to the official exchange rate provided by the Bank of Albania, on Wednesday, the euro was traded at 105.99 lek, marking a decrease of 0.64 lek compared to the end of the previous week. This drop has pushed the euro below the 106 lek threshold for the first time since August 21.<\/p>\n
The euro experienced a swift surge in mid-August, reaching a peak value of 110.58 lek. However, this upward movement was short-lived, and starting from the end of August, the overall trend in the euro-to-lek exchange rate has been downward. Similar to what occurred last year, the lek is now reaching levels comparable to those seen during the summer season.<\/p>\n
Experts suggest that this trend can be explained by the changing dynamics of the euro and lek supply in the market over the past two years.<\/p>\n
The supply of foreign currency, particularly the euro, has seen a noticeable increase, with tourism playing a pivotal role. According to data from the Bank of Albania, for the first half of 2023, the trade deficit was 323 million euros, representing a decrease of 27.4% compared to the same period last year, and reaching an all-time low. Net income from tourism for the first half of the year reached a record 577 million euros, reflecting a year-on-year increase of 71%.<\/p>\n
It is believed that foreign exchange inflows remained high during the third quarter, which corresponds to the peak of the summer season. Bank of Albania statistics have shown that euro deposits reached an all-time high of 7.1 billion euros by the end of August. Over the course of a year, deposits in the euro increased by over 1 billion euros or 16.5%. During just the June-August quarter, bank deposits rose by over 500 million euros, indicating a strong influence of tourism on foreign exchange inflows in the economy.<\/p>\n
Conversely, the supply of the domestic currency, the lek, appears to be under pressure, as evidenced by the sluggish growth of lek deposits and the overall money supply aggregate M2. The Bank of Albania attributes this tightening to the fiscal policy of the Government.<\/p>\n
As of the end of August, the budget surplus had reached a historic high of nearly 48 billion lek, marking an increase of 230% compared to the same period the previous year. The significant withdrawal of liquidity by the Government has substantially reduced the supply of the domestic currency and exerted upward pressure on the lek exchange rate.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Albanian lek is continuing its upward trend against the euro in the early days of October. According to the official exchange rate provided by the Bank of Albania, on Wednesday, the euro was traded at 105.99 lek, marking a decrease of 0.64 lek compared to the end of the previous week. This drop has […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":57774,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[153],"tags":[270,2222,2638,823,1851,2590,2546,243,151,1490,2639],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n