TIRANA, Jan. 27 – With international oil prices having more than halved since their peak level in mid-2014, the US dollar has reached an eleven-year high both against Europe’s single currency and the Albanian lek.
The U.S dollar traded at 123.8 lek this week, the highest level since April 2003.
The euro also fell as low as $1.1098 against the dollar after the anti-austerity Syriza party won the Greek general election and the European Central Bank announced a quantitative easing plan.
Meanwhile, the Albanian currency has slightly strengthened against the Euro after the ECB announced it will inject at least Euro 1.1 trillion into the ailing eurozone economy.
The Euro traded at 139.77 lek this week, down from 140 lek which has been the average rate in the past four years.
Central bank data shows around 63 percent of business loans are in foreign currency of which 87.2 percent in euro and 12.8 percent in U.S. dollar. Lending in foreign currency to households accounts for 54 percent, with euro-denominated loans accounting for 97.8 percent and USD loans at 1.7 percent.
The national currency, lek, has lost around 15 percent during the past six years against the Euro, the main currency used in real estate lending. In November 2008, when the global crisis broke out, the Euro stood at an average of 123.29. Since then, it has been on a constant appreciation trend against Lek, climbing to a historic record high of 141.97 lek in June 2011 and remaining at an average of 140 lek since then.
