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Lek deposits fall in March for the second consecutive month, the effect from corporations

2026-04-29 22:48:05, Ekonomi CNA

Lek deposits fall in March for the second consecutive month, the effect from

Unlike January, which saw a record increase in savings in the local currency, influenced by private businesses and public institutions, February and March have marked a decline, while the currency has also performed poorly.

According to data from the Bank of Albania, at the end of March, deposits in lek of individuals, businesses and other institutions in banks reached 727 billion lek, decreasing by 6 billion lek (-0.8%), compared to the previous month.

In January, savings in banks had marked a record monthly increase of 26 billion lek, while in February they fell by 4.3 billion lek.

On an annual basis (March 2026/March 2025), savings in local currency increased by 81.4 billion lek, or 12.6%.

The March decline, like that of February, was influenced by the contraction of business savings (-6.8 billion lek), following the strong growth recorded by this item in January, influenced by year-end payments from the state budget to public works companies.

Individuals' deposits in lek marked a slight increase in March.

Unlike deposits in lek, which were in decline, those in foreign currency recorded a slight increase, reaching 8.76 billion euros, with an expansion of 35 million euros. On an annual basis, savings in the common currency have increased by 758 million euros, or 9.5%.

The Bank of Albania reports the stock of total savings in lek and euros converted into the local currency, which at the end of February decreased to 1.49 trillion lek, from around 1.5 trillion lek (over 15 billion euros), which was at the end of February, affected both by the decline in savings in lek and the effect of the exchange rate of deposits in euros.

In one year, from March 2025 to March 2026, deposits in the banking system (converted into euros) increased by about 1.6 billion euros, with the largest impact, with about 52% of the increase, being provided by the local currency./Monitor.al