Lek depreciates by 10% against USD

TIRANA, Oct. 1 – The Albanian national currency has sharply depreciated against the U.S dollar during this year and remained stable against Europe’s single currency. Data shows the U.S dollar reached an almost two-year high of an average of 108.41 lek in September 2014 and further accelerated to 110.94 lek this week, according to the central bank’s fixed exchange rate.
Since April 2014, when it dropped to 101.35 lek, the USD has appreciated by around 9.5 percent against the Albanian lek. The end of the tourist season finds the Albanian national currency, lek, in a weaker position against Europe’s single currency, due to lower inflows of euros from Albanian migrants and tourists spending their summer holidays in Albania.
After dropping to below 139 lek in July and August 2014, the euro regained ground against the Albanian lek in early September 2014 climbing to 140.31 lek. However, this week, lek recovered against the Euro, trading at 139.87 lek.
Central bank data shows around 63 percent of business loans are in foreign currency.