Lek loses ground against Euro, USD

TIRANA, May 1 – The Albanian national currency, lek, continues losing ground against the two main foreign currencies, the Euro and the US dollar in the beginning of this year. Although depreciating in international markets because of the escalating crisis in Cyprus, the Euro continues gaining ground against the Albanian lek because of rising demand for euro in the domestic market.
The Euro traded at 140.72 lek this week, 0.5 lek higher than its average last April while the US dollar dropped to 107.65 lek, down 0.2 lek compared to its average last April.
The common currency of the European Union rose to an average of 140.28 lek in April 2013 up from 139.78 lek in March 2013 and 139.98 lek in April 2012, registering its highest rate against the Albanian national currency since November 2011 when it traded at an average of 140.97 lek, according to the fixed central bank exchange rate. Meanwhile, the US dollar dropped to 107.86 lek in April 2013, up from 107.81 lek in March 2013 and 106.35 lek in April 2012. euro 140.72 lek.
The appreciation of the Euro against the Albanian lek is bad news for borrowers in Euro who have their income in lek and government’s external debt payments but good news for Albanian exporters who are already suffering from poor demand in Italy and Greece.
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.