Euro is "abandoned" by borrowers/ Loans in lek gain ground during the first four months of the year
According to data from the “Bank of Albania”, new loans disbursed by the banking system reached 137.7 billion lek in the first four months of 2026, from 129.8 billion lek in the same period last year, marking an increase of 6.1%. The expansion of lending has been mainly supported by loans in the local currency, while lending in euros has shown different performance between businesses and individuals.
In private non-financial corporations, new credit increased by 11.5%, reaching 92.8 billion lek. Financing in lek expanded by 9.9%, to 46.5 billion lek, while loans in euro reached 41.8 billion lek, an increase of 8.6% compared to a year earlier. This indicates that businesses continue to rely on both lek and euro to finance their activities.
The situation is different for individuals. New loans for this segment increased by only 3%, reaching 44.2 billion lek. However, within this category, a strong shift towards the local currency is observed. Loans in lek increased by 13.1%, reaching 37.4 billion lek, while lending in euros fell by 30.6%, to 6.9 billion lek.
The decline in euro borrowing is mainly related to loans for house purchases. In the first four months of the year, mortgage loans in euro fell to 3.9 billion lek, from 7.3 billion lek a year earlier, marking a contraction of 46.6%. In contrast, loans for houses in lek increased by 4.5%, reaching 16.3 billion lek.
The data show that the process of orienting borrowing towards the local currency is continuing, especially among individuals. The strengthening of the lek in recent years and the preference to take out loans in the same currency as income seem to be increasingly influencing borrowers' choices. Meanwhile, businesses remain more exposed to the euro, due to the commercial activity and income that some of them generate in foreign currency.
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Procurement, 11.2 million lek in the state budget in April/ One in two complaints is accepted, what do the PPC data show?
Complaints about public tenders continue to remain high. During April alone, 112 complaints were registered with the Public Procurement Commission, all......
ARRSH, new project for the northern entrance of Tirana/Kozeli: New connection with the Arbri road. Expansion of Tirana – Durrës, up to Vora
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State Matura, Kumbaro: Strict rules/ Education towards the labor market, new strategy begins "the journey"
The state Matura exam will be held under strict rules and in case of a thesis leak, the graduates will be excluded from the process. This is the statement of......
