BANK OF ALBANIA

Questions and answers at the Governor's Press Conference on 28 March 2018

Publication date: 28.03.2018

 

Question: You said that the appreciation of the exchange rate has diminished.  Has the Bank of Albania taken any measure to strengthen the euro and what other effects are expected in the market? 

Governor: The Bank of Albania pursues a free-floating exchange rate regime, determined by demand and supply.  The policies of the Bank of Albania do not aim at reaching a certain level of the exchange rate, as it is under a free-floating regime. 

The Bank of Albania intervenes in the market in case of large fluctuations in the exchange rate, and occurrence of the circumstances specified by the Bank of Albania.  In the concrete case, we deem that the circumstances specified for intervention are not in place. The exchange rate is determined by the demand and supply-side factors.

Last week our currency, the Albanian lek, appreciated, for two days; then the exchange rate returned to its previews trends.  The operations and quotations of commercial banks and other agents that operate with the exchange rate are stabilised. 

Bank of Albania's analyses, for a longer period, show that the exchange rate, mainly euro/lek, but also for other currencies, is determined by fundamental factors.  The Bank of Albania is proud for the stability of the domestic currency against other currencies, referring to the fluctuations in the exchange rate.  Our currency is considerably stable, compared to currencies in the region and beyond.

For the moment, it should be said that the exchange rate has re-stabilised after the fluctuations in the market, last week. We do not forecast other fluctuations, but I emphasise once again, that the exchange rate is determined by the demand and supply in the market.  It is not an objective of the Bank Albania to intervene in the exchange rate.