Central bank said on Tuesday that the value of restructured loans in the second half of last year was 35% of the value of the restructured loans during the same period of 2021.

Banks operating in Albania restructured loans with an estimated value of around 1.6 billon lek or less than 1% of the new bank lending. The value of restructured loan represents 5% of the stock of non-performing loans in Albania’s banking system.

Loan restructuring affected both lek and euro-denominated loans for business sector.

According to central bank, loan restructuring consisted mainly in extension of the maturity date.

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Data from the Bank of Albania show that Austrian investment rose 15% year-on-year to a total of investments worth 875 million euros in 2024.

Austrian investments in Albania are largely focused on the country’s financial sector, primarily on insurance sector, hospitality, and energy and construction industry.

New Austrian investments in Albania were estimated at around 119 million euros in 2024, a value similar to a year ago.

A total of 100 enterprises with Austrian capital and joint capital operate in Albania, as economic ties between Albania and Austria have significantly intensified in the past few years.

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Official data show that agriculture is the sector with the most sustainable exports growth in 2023/

“The government will press ahead with its support policies and incentives for the hard working people in a bid to deliver on its target for the value of the country’s agriculture exports to grow to 1 billion euros by 2030,” Denaj said.

The data are evidence to implementation of support policies aimed at promoting local production, increase quality and standards of “Made in Albania” products, most-sought for their high quality in over 80 markets in Europe and in a wider region.

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The Bank of Albania estimated that the Lek has continued to depreciate versus the US dollar at a faster pace compared to the first quarter of the year.

The USD strengthened its positions in the domestic foreign currency exchange market, in exchange with the Lek, reflecting its appreciation against the Euro in the international market.

The American dollar was quoted at an average of 115.6 Lekë in the first three weeks of July compared with 111.6 Lekë in March.

“In the domestic foreign currency exchange market, this level is about 11.8% higher than in July last year. While in the international market, since the beginning of 2022, the dollar has been overvalued by more than 10% compared to other major currencies, approaching the highest levels in the last 20 years”, emphasized the Bank of Albania.

Experts appreciate that the dollar strengthened driven by investors who are worried about the prospect of a global recession. Hence, they started investing in the American currency, considered the most reliable asset in turbulent times.

While the attractiveness of the dollar was also eased by the aggressive policy of the US Federal Reserve which increased the base rate in the fight against strong inflation. This made American investments more profitable because they now promise higher returns. /j.p/r.e/p.s./

Data provided from the Bank of Albania show that the sector has expanded by 1.4% since the beginning of the year and by 7.6% compared to the same period last year.

The banks continued to focus mainly on lending, while investments in securities have decreased compared to the beginning of the year.

The net loan portfolio in the middle of the current year reached the value of ALL 679 billion, increasing by 13.3% compared to last year and by 4.9% since the beginning of the year.

Meanwhile, investments in securities at the end of June were worth 648 billion ALL, 4.5% more compared to last year, but down 2.8% since the beginning of this year.

There are 11 commercial banks operating in our country, most of them with foreign capital and some of them with local capital. /j.p/p.s./

Meanwhile, according to INSTAT, imports from China were valued at 9.4 billion lek, increasing from 9.1 billion lek in the same period of 2021.

INSTAT data show that volume of imports from China rose 3.8% in the first two months of this year.

Albania imports from China mainly include machinery, equipment and spare parts, with their value estimated at 4.8 billion lek in the two-month period.

Albania also imports textiles and footwear with their value estimated at 1.5 billion lek, chemical and plastic products valued at 921 million lek, construction materials and metals valued at 970 million lek.

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Their monthly dynamics show that yields have increased volatility mainly to bonds of short-term maturity.

Yields on 5- or 7-year bonds, whose performance has been more uniform, have been characterized by minimal decreases.

Specifically, in the last auction held in October, the yield on the 12-month bond was 1.7%, decreasing by 0.1 pp from the average of September, while the 10-year bond premium increased by approximately 0.2 pp, in 5.2%, from the respective last value.

“The current level of yields is below the values ​​of the beginning of the year and those of last year. The financial market has appeared calm in adapting to the dynamics of the government offer”, said the Bank of Albania. /j.p/p.s./

At the end of 2020, according to the Strategy for Business Development and Investment, eight projects of interest in the field of investments were developed in Albania, mainly from Germany and Italy as well as from the Netherlands, China and Japan.

The total value of these investment projects amounts to about 94 million Euros and is expected to create 4,090 new jobs.

The inflow of foreign direct investment has increased significantly in the last ten years even thanks to investment climate reforms. In 2019, FDI inflows reached more than 1 billion Euros, 14.6% up from 2016. Net FDI accounts for 7.6% of GDP – one of the highest values ​​in the Western Balkans.

As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the inflow of foreign direct investments during the first three quarters of 2020 decreased by 13.7% compared to the same period in 2019.

EU countries remain the main source of foreign direct investment in Albania and at the end of 2020 account for 54.2% of the total FDI stock. The main sources of investment include Switzerland (18.9% of the stock), the Netherlands (16.2%), Canada (12.8%), Italy (9.6%) and Turkey (7.2%).

According to the data of the National Business Center, 12,944 foreign companies are currently active in the territory of Albania.

About 80% of them are 100% with foreign capital (10,231), while the rest are joint ventures (2,713).

At the end of 2018, energy and mining accounted for 40% of the total FDI stock, followed by the information and communication sector (16%) and financial services (14%).

In order to attract foreign direct investment, in 2015 the government adopted the Law on Strategic Investments, which sets out investment incentives and provides rapid administrative procedures for strategic investors through a one-stop service center administered by AIDA./p.s./

Meanwhile, according to INSTAT, imports from China were valued at 25.3 billion lek, significantly increasing from 18.3 billion lek in the same period of 2020.

INSTAT data show that volume of imports from China rose 38.3% in May.

Albania imports Albania imports from China mainly machinery, equipment and spare parts, with their value estimated at 11.8 billion lek in the first five months of the year.

Albania also imports textiles and footwear with their value estimated at 4.6 billion lek, chemical and plastic products valued at 3.6 billion lek, construction materials and metals valued at 1.9 billion lek.

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Minister of Finance and Economy Anila Denaj convened today the Investment Council where she discussed with representatives of international financial institutions and business in the country on this strategy.

The strategy is in the public consultation phase.

“The purpose of drafting this strategy is to identify investment potentials for economic development and promote integration in international markets and value chains,” said Minister Denaj.

The two sectors that will receive the most direct support are manufacturing and tourism through sovereign guarantees of 50 million Euros.

Also, through AIDA, the fund for supporting small and medium enterprises will increase 5 times.

“Special focus will be on small and medium enterprises to increase value, which today have significant fiscal support such as zero profit tax and increase of the VAT threshold, but also support through grants and funds administered through AIDA. It is foreseen that the value of funds and grants for small and medium business will increase 5 times “, said Denaj.

She also said that technology will also receive support in order to increase value through increasing efficiency.

The minister invited the business to present their proposals regarding this strategy, which she said, should aim to increase the values ​​of the product “Made in Albania” and in particular to make it in the regional markets even more visible and more profitable.

At the end of 2019, there were 162,342 registered active enterprises, an increase of 1% from 2016. Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) account for 99.8% of all enterprises, over 85% of the total number of employees and 69% of added value – more than in most countries in the region. Added Value for SMEs increased by 18% between 2016 and 2018. Small enterprises make up the largest share of SMEs./j.p/p.s./