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Deposits in US Dollars, near the highest level of the last decade

2025-08-12 07:36:00, Ekonomi CNA

According to data from the Bank of Albania, deposits in the greenback at the end of June reached $838 million, up 14.5% since the beginning of 2025 and 21.3% compared to the same period a year earlier.

The value of US dollar deposits is very close to the highest levels of the last decade. The record value for this period was reached at the end of April, at 849 million dollars.

The figures show that the increase in foreign currency savings has not only affected the dominant Euro, but has also extended to the Dollar, which is the second most used foreign currency within the Albanian economy and financial sector.

The largest share of deposits in US dollars belongs to individuals. At the end of last year, they held about 68% of total foreign currency deposits. The annual growth of deposits in US dollars from individuals reached 23.2%, even higher than the average growth of deposits in US currency.

In theory, the increase in US dollar interest rates after 2022 could have made the dollar more attractive for financial investments. According to information reported by commercial banks to the Bank of Albania, interest rates on US dollar deposits in January of this year reached up to 2.7% for the longest maturities.

However, the financial market also offers other investment opportunities, such as investment funds or participation in investments through foreign platforms, including capital market financial instruments or cryptocurrencies. The increase in savings in US dollars may be related especially to investments in alternative instruments abroad and especially in cryptocurrencies.

The leading cryptocurrency, bitcoin, is now trading at around $117,000. It can be hypothesized that in such an environment, some investors may have taken advantage of the price increase to liquidate cryptoassets and repatriate funds, which would rank the cryptocurrency market as one of the factors that may have led to the increase in USD deposits.

Another source that is believed to have reached significant levels in recent years is outsourcing services from businesses or individuals to American companies or other countries outside the EU that use the Dollar as the international payment currency.

In the business segment, USD inflows are mainly related to exports of goods quoted in dollars or exports to countries outside Europe.

Meanwhile, deposits in Euro continue to grow. According to statistics from the Bank of Albania, the value of deposits in Euro at the end of June reached 8.12 billion euros, still very close to the highest historical level.

However, the growth of deposits in Euro has been reduced to single-digit levels. Compared to a year ago, deposits in Euro are up 7.5%. It is estimated that the growth of deposits in foreign currency is directly related to the increase in foreign currency inflows into the economy, particularly related to the tourism sector and real estate./ Monitor