BoA injects 200 bln lek

TIRANA, Aug. 6 – Albania’s central bank says it injected a total of 199.47 billion lek (Euro 1.4 bln) in the first quarter of 2012, with the overwhelming majority in one-week repo deals.
Data show the central bank injected 188.9 billion lek through one-week repo deals during the first quarter of 2012. During this period, the Bank of Albania injected an average 22.8 billion lek in one-week reverse repo deals, 10.5 billion lek in two separate three-month reverse repo deals and withdrew excess liquidity through two one-day deals, worth 12.23 billion lek.
The central bank also used one-day deposits in 18 cases to regulate daily liquidity at an average of 1.78 billion lek, up around 1.57 billion lek more compared to the previous quarter when this instrument registered an average of 0.21 billion lek. BoA also used one-day credits 12 times, at an average of 0.21 billion lek compared to 3 cases at an average of 0.03 billion lek in the previous quarter.
During the first quarter of 2012, the central bank said it participated in the domestic foreign currency exchange market buying hard currency from second-tier banks in order to increase its net foreign currency reserve. The central bank also continued foreign currency operations with the Finance Ministry mainly under swap contracts while external debt payments were carried out with the ministry’s funds.
The Bank of Albania also bought 163.4 million lek of foreign currency from the International Development Agency (IDA) and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD).