Lek gains ground against Euro

TIRANA, July 18 – Migrants’ arrival but also lower trade exchanges with Eurozone countries has considerably strengthened Albanian lek against the Euro in the past few weeks. Few days ago, the euro dropped to 136.5 lek, the lowest rate during the past three years standing 2.5 lek below its average, according to the fixed Bank of Albania exchange rate.
The appreciation of the Albanian lek against the Euro is good news for borrowers in Euro who have their income in lek and the government’s external debt payments but bad news for Albanian exporters who are already suffering from poor demand in Italy and Greece.
This week, the Euro slightly rose again to 137.5 lek, according to the Bank of Albania official exchange rate. The deteriorating situation in the Eurozone and Euro losing ground against the US dollar has also influenced.
In summer 2011, migrants’ arrival had a minor impact on strengthening lek as the Euro climbed to a historical record high of 141.97 lek in June 2011 and slightly dropped to 139.85 lek only in August 2011.
The national currency, lek, has lost around 15 percent during the past 3 years against the Euro, the main currency used in real estate lending. In November 2008, when the global crisis broke out Euro stood at an average of 123.29. Since then it has been on a constant appreciation trend against Lek, climbing to a historically record high of 141.97 lek in June 2011.
Meanwhile, the US dollar continues appreciating against the Albanian lek climbing from an average of 98.79 lek in May 2011 to 112.3 lek in May 2012. This week the US dollar registered a record high of 111.7 lek for the past two years.