TIRANA, Aug 16 /ATA/ The interest rates for household loans in lek, in the second 3 months of the year, have begun to reflect the increase of the base interest rate, which records 1.75% at the beginning of August 2022.
The Bank of Albania announced that the highest increase in this quarter was in mortgage loans, where their interest was 4.0% from 3.6% in the previous quarter and 3.7% in 2021.
“In a time-stretched comparison, the current interest is still lower than the 4.4% level for the period 2018-2020. The last two years have been characterized by a high demand of individuals for mortgage loans, which has been met by banks offering concessional lending terms. The interest spread on these loans against the 12-month Treasury bond yield, which is often used as a benchmark, has remained low in the first half of this year, at 1.9%, and almost as much as it was in 2021, “according to BoA.
According to BoA, the second quarter of this year has also recorded an increase in consumer loan interest. This interest resulted in an average level of 9.3%, from 9.1% in the first quarter of the year. The increase in interest for this type of loan was more contained in this quarter, after the increase it showed in the first quarter of the year. Interest rates for consumer loans have fluctuated around 8.1% for the period 2018-2021. /j.p/sm/
