Deposit interest rates decrease, loan rates increase

TIRANA, May 31 – Deposit interest rates for the national currency, lek, in March 2011 registered a slight drop while loan interest continued growing. A recent report published by the Bank of Albania shows interest rates for 12-month deposits dropped by 0.08 percent to 5.8 percent compared to last February while interest rates for 12-month loans were up by 0.29 percent to 11.81 percent. Interest rates for short-term loans in Euro in the first two months dropped by an average of 0.36 percentage points to 6.88 percent; while interest rates for long-term mortgage loans grew by 0.22 percent. Interest rates for 12-month, 6-month and 3-month treasury bills were up to 7.26 percent, 6.72 percent and 5.35 percent respectively. Experts expect interest rates for credit in the national currency, lek, to increase in the second quarter of this year mainly due to the monetary policy followed by the Bank of Albania– which late last March increased the key interest rate by 0.25 percent to 5.25 percent. The central bank took the measure in an effort to keep soaring inflation in check. Findings of a survey carried out by the Bank of Albania show lending standards eased for both small and medium-sized enterprises but remained unchanged for corporations.