Shqipëria Posted on 2026-07-20 14:45:00

Bank of Albania increases euro purchases - In the first quarter, interventions in the domestic foreign exchange market reached 139.6 million euros

From Ledina Elezi

Bank of Albania increases euro purchases - In the first quarter, interventions

The Bank of Albania purchased 139.6 million euros in the domestic market during the first quarter of the year, with the aim of increasing foreign exchange reserves and stabilizing the exchange rate.

But have these interventions resulted in softening the exchange rate?

Despite the interventions of the Bank of Albania, the exchange rate has continued to decline. The depreciation of the euro has not stopped for a moment, falling to 93 lekë at the beginning of July.

As foreseen in the intervention calendar, the Central Bank has conducted two auctions with the FORWARD option with a 3-month term, i.e. through a preliminary agreement to purchase the euro at a future date and with an exchange rate determined at the moment of reaching this agreement, while it has continued with another auction with a 1-month term.

In the three auctions held during the period with the FORWARD option, 44.10 million euros were purchased, or an average of 14.3 million euros per auction, a higher level than that of the same period a year ago.

During the first quarter, the Bank of Albania made purchases in the foreign exchange market to meet monetary policy and financial stability objectives. A total of 95.50 million euros were purchased in four interventions.

By the end of this year, the Bank of Albania aims to purchase 330-450 million euros from commercial banks, about 100 million euros more than in the interventions planned in 2025. As a result of tourist income, euro flows are higher in the second and third quarters. For this reason, the largest number of auctions take place in this period.

The Central Bank maintains a foreign exchange reserve to meet the government's needs for foreign exchange to repay external debt, to support international trade, by meeting the demand for foreign exchange originating from importers, and to enable the Bank of Albania to intervene in the market, with the aim of preventing and mitigating strong exchange rate movements.

Live TV

Latest news
All news

Most visited