Tirana Times
TIRANA, July 5 – As expected the Albanian national currency is slightly gaining ground against the Euro and the US dollar during this summer as foreign currency inflows increase with the arrival of migrants to spend their holidays home. Bank of Albania data published this week show the Euro dropped to 141.35 lek this week, down from a historical record high of 142.4 lek at the end of April 2011. The situation with the US dollar appears the same as lek continues gaining ground trading at 97.35 lek/USD, down from 102.16 lek at the end of January 2011, which was the highest level for this year.
However, compared to a year ago, the lek has lost around 3.5 percent against the Euro. At the end of June 2010, the Euro traded at 135.5 lek compared to 141.41 lek at the end of June 2011.
Meanwhile, the US dollar dropped to 97.68 lek in June 2011, down from 110.44 lek one year ago, with lek appreciating by around 12.3 percent.
The Lek’s depreciating trend against the Euro, which is the key currency for many goods and services in Albania, started in early 2009 when the Euro began to increase sharply after remaining at an average of 123 lek for several years.
While the Albanian national currency continues depreciating against the Euro, financial experts are concerned over the high degree of Euro-ization putting Albanian consumers at risk of facing negative currency exchange risks. The ongoing depreciation of the national currency against the Euro has put individuals and businesses which have borrowed in foreign currency, but have their revenues in lek, into a difficult situation.
The increasing demand for Euro following the liberalization of visas in mid-December has also affected the depreciation of the lek in the first half of this year. Experts expect the Albanian lek to continue strengthening against the main two foreign currencies in the coming months as more migrants return home.
