TIRANA, May 9 /ATA/ – Albania bank lending rate was reported almost unchanged at 6.3%, the Bank of Albania said on Friday.
According to central bank, the interest rate on the national currency-denominated loans rose 6.1% in end of March from 5.7% in the first three months of this year.
Bank of Albania said that the average interest rates applied to euro-denominated loans have maintained an upward trend since beginning of 2022.
On the other hand, the lending rates applied to Lek-denominated loans fell to 6.3% in March, showing a downward trend from 7.5% in October 2022.
The fall in yields on the treasury bills and other government securities, as well as the slowdown in increasing the central bank’s key interest rate have contribute to the decline in lending rates.
According to central bank, the number of new lending rose 3.6% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2024, with the small and medium-sized enterprises accounting for the largest increase in the number of applications by 6.2%.
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