The sale of the state-owned 40 percent stake in the United Bank of Albania increased the presence of foreign capital in the Albanian banking system to 92.3 percent of the total
TIRANA, July 23 – The growth of banking sector assets in 2009 fell to 6.25 percent, down from 12.4 percent a year ago, according to a recent annual supervisory report published by the central bank. Assets in 2009 grew by 52.2 billion lek (520 million dollars) compared to 91.8 billion lek in the previous year. The total banking assets in December 2009 reached 886.3 bln lek representing 77.5 percent of the GDP.
Meanwhile, the banking network’s expansions also slowed down in 2009. Only 17 new banking branches and agencies were approved and started their activity in 2009. Four banks also announced the closure of their branches at the end of 2009.
The total number of banking branches and agencies in the Albanian territory and outside reached 530, increasing by 13 compared to the end of 2008. The year 2009 registered an increase in the number of applications for non-banking financial institutions.
The number of currency exchange shops continued its growth even in 2009 reaching 221, 32 more than the end of 2008. The report said the increase was a result of efforts to lower informality in this field by facilitating licensing procedures.
Meanwhile, the number of bank employees and indicators related to their number fell despite the growing number of branches and agencies. Second-tier banks cut their staff by almost 90 employees despite the number of new branches growing by 13.
Raiffeisen Bank has the biggest number of branches and agencies with 102 followed by Banka Kombetare Tregtare with 58. Most branches are located in capital Tirana some 210, followed by Durres 51, Fier 45 and Vlora 39.
The loan portfolio also slowed down to an annual growth of 13.4 percent (53.1 bln lek), compared to 35.67 percent in 2009 and 47.73 percent in 2007.
The number of commercial banks operating in Albania remained unchanged at 16 even in 2009 although some structural changes took place in their ownership.
The Bank of Albania, which is the only authority granting licenses and supervising banks in the country, said no applications for banking licenses were submitted even in 2009.
Turkey’s Calik Holding A.S increased its shares at the Banka Kombetare Tregtare to 45.6 percent, up from 25.2, while the Islamic Development Bank bought another 40 percent of the United Bank of Albania shares increasing its stake to 55 percent.
The sale of the state-owned 40 percent stake in the United Bank of Albania increased the presence of foreign capital in the Albanian banking system to 92.3 percent of the total, up from 91.8 percent in December 2008. This puts Albania on top of the list of regional countries followed by Bosnia where foreign capital accounted for 83.1 percent of the total in 2008.
Meanwhile, the number of banks using e-banking products increased to 14 in 2009, up from 12 in 2008. The central bank report said eight new e-banking products were approved in 2009 including internet banking, mobile/sms banking
The number of debit cards issued until the end of 2009 was 543,141 while that of credit cards was 23,844.
The number of ATMs increased to 741, up from 642 at the end of 2008. The number of points of sale (POS) also increased to 4,370 up from 2,953 at the end of 2008.
