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Euro ends the week down, reaches new historical minimum

2026-05-15 14:05:45Biznes SHKRUAR NGA REDAKSIA VOX

The Euro/Lek exchange rate has closed this week in decline, touching a new historical minimum. According to the official exchange rate of the Bank of Albania, the European currency was exchanged today for 95.34 Lekë, the lowest level ever recorded.

Since the beginning of the year, the Euro has depreciated by 1.5%, while on an annual basis the decline of the European currency has reached 3.3%.

As expected, the second quarter of the year has further strengthened the depreciation pressures on the Euro. This trend is linked to the increase in foreign exchange inflows, particularly related to tourism.

According to exchange agents, the foreign exchange supply in the market is abundant, while demand does not show major fluctuations.

The Bank of Albania is continuing to play a regulatory role on the exchange rate's declining trend, but its purchases are not sufficient to completely halt this decline.

According to official statistics, last year the Central Bank bought 1 billion and 27 million euros, with the objective of increasing the foreign exchange reserve, but mostly in order to curb the strengthening of the Lek exchange rate. The amount of foreign exchange purchased increased by 10% compared to the previous year. In total, in the period 2024-2025 the Central Bank has purchased approximately two billion euros in the foreign exchange market, purchases that have only slowed down the decline of the Euro.

Foreign currency purchases have continued throughout the first months of this year, given the downward trend in the Euro-Lek exchange rate, but the purchase figures have not yet been made public.

It seems that this year will also bring an appreciation of the local currency in the exchange rate, despite concerns related to rising inflation and the pressures that this increase may exert on the country's trade balance.

For this year, the Bank of Albania has planned to further increase its planned purchases of foreign exchange in the domestic market. It aims to purchase 330-450 million euros through auctions, with the objective of increasing the foreign exchange reserve, not counting direct purchases, which will depend on the performance of the exchange rate.

But, in conditions where inflation is approaching the 3% level, the Bank of Albania's scope to intervene in the foreign exchange market through Euro purchases may narrow.

A decrease in demand, linked to the Bank of Albania's withdrawal from foreign exchange purchases, could pave the way for a faster decline in the Euro exchange rate, especially during the summer season.

The continued decline of the Euro in the exchange rate with the Lek could in theory help mitigate the effects of imported inflation, but on the other hand it continuously hits the competitiveness of Albanian exports of goods and services.


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