TIRANA, Sept 1 /ATA/ – The share of bank lending to businesses denominated in foreign currencies saw a stable growth by 4.1% in the end of June, mainly driven by increase in lending for investment projects, the Bank of Albania said on Wednesday.
According to central bank, lending in Albanian currency lek slowed to 9.8%, reflecting the weakness of lending to meet liquidity needs.
This portfolio also reflects the least benefit from the relief measures provided by the government to soften the COVID-19 pandemic effects mostly in the second quarter of the last year.
The bank lending to business in June was dominated by foreign currency-denominated loans, accounting for 57.6 % of the total, down by 1.6 % compared to the same period of the previous year, reflecting the shift of the loan portfolio towards the national currency in response to favorable interest rates that were further lowered with the onset of the pandemic.
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