TIRANA, June 2 – With the banking system remaining hesitant about financing the agriculture sector, the two saving and credit associations operating in Albania continue playing an important role in micro-financing to rural areas.
Bank of Albania data show assets in the two saving and credit unions rose to 6.8 billion lek (Euro 47.6 mln) in the first quarter of 2015, up from around 6 billion lek (Euro 41.5 mln) a year ago.
In an annual report, leading Albanian Saving and Credit Union reported total assets of 4.4 billion lek (€30 mln) at the end of 2014 and a credit portfolio of 3.7 billion lek (€25.6 mln) among its 17,000 customers.
Saving and credit associations (SCAs), which lend mostly to members in the agricultural sector, hold less than 1 percent of financial system assets. There are two unions with 124 member SCAs and two independent SCAs. One-third of the unions’ assets are invested in bank shares and treasury bills.
Since mid-2014, deposits up to 2.5 million lek (Euro 17,900) in both commercial banks and credit saving unions have been insured by the Deposit Insurance Agency.
Despite accounting for almost 20 percent of the GDP and employing half of the country’s population, the agriculture sector is one of the least financed sectors by commercial banks with total lending at the end of March 2015 at 6.5 billion lek (€45 mln) or 1.6 percent of the total.
