PRESS RELEASE
Bank of Albania interventions in the money market and foreign exchange market over 2013 Q1

1.1. Open market operations

Money market interventions during 2013 Q1 consisted of open market operations for the injection of liquidity.

The total amount of injected liquidity increased from an average of ALL 16 billion at end-December 2012 to around ALL 16.93 billion in 2013 Q1. Average injected liquidity was about 26% lower than a year earlier, when it amounted to ALL 22.8 billion.  

To inject liquidity, the Bank of Albania employed its main instrument, the one-week reverse repurchase agreement - on average, ALL 11.93 billion per week* - and one-month reverse repurchase agreement - on average, ALL 2.08 billion per week*.

During January 17-23, 2013, a period that corresponds to the end of the required reserve maintenance period, the overnight instrument was employed five times, averaging ALL 1.17 billion a day. After announcing the re-opening of 7-year bond auctions, from March 15, 2013 to the next weekly intervention, which corresponded to the last day of the required reserve maintenance period, the Bank of Albania conducted four overnight liquidity injection operations, averaging ALL 1.85 billion per auction.

1.2. Use of standing facilities

During 2013 Q1, the overnight deposit facility was employed 35 times, averaging ALL 1.39 billion or about ALL 4.57 billion less than in 2012 Q4, when this facility was employed 60 times and averaged ALL 5.96 billion.

The overnight loan facility was employed eight times, averaging ALL 1.47 billion. It was mainly concentrated during January 10-23, 2013, which corresponds to the end of the required reserve maintenance period. In 2012 Q4, this facility was employed twice and averaged ALL 0.91 billion.