
The numerous fluctuations experienced by the European currency, the euro in Albania, is creating a shift in the loan portfolio in the Albanian banking system.
In recent months, a tendency has been observed for many individuals and businesses to prematurely close loans in euros and replace them with loans in Lek.
This trend is confirmed by the Bank of Albania, which shows that in the last months, a constant pace of this shift has been observed for individuals, while for businesses there is a stronger growth.
As for businesses, it turns out that only in the last 3 months of the year, 90 loans in euros were closed with an amount of 4.6 billion ALL.
This high number of closed loans is 3 times higher compared to the previous period.
In the current conditions, having a loan in Lek is more favorable, due to the fact that the interest rates are lower than for loans in Euro.
Also, an influencing factor is the fact that the banking system, in terms of regulation, allows changing the currency of the loan, without having a penalty.