TIRANA, April 23 /ATA/- Businesses and households have increased their demands for loans in the first quarter this year, according to Bank of Albania.
According to the recent BoA report on Lending Activity Survey, the business demand for credit was reported by banks to be higher than in the previous quarter, supported by both the small and medium-sized enterprise segment and large enterprises.
According to the report, the demand for loans is reported higher for households, supported by demand for housing loans and consumer loan.
Meanwhile, banks have been more conservative in the standards applied this quarter. Most of them have kept them unchanged. Increased collateral demand has significantly contributed to tightening of terms for household loan approval.
For Q2, 2018 banks foresee a slowdown in lending activity either in domestic or foreign currency. For the same quarter, the interest rates on loan are expected to be higher in ALL than in foreign currency. /e.xh/ /a.g/sm/
