The Euro-Lek exchange rate is characterized by continuous downward pressures and touched a new historical minimum on Thursday. According to the official exchange rate of the Bank of Albania, the Euro was exchanged for 93.57 Lekë, the lowest level ever recorded. Since the beginning of the year, the Euro exchange rate has fallen by 3.3%, while on an annual basis the decline has reached 4.1%.
According to exchange agents, the exchange rate continues to be affected by the high supply of foreign currency, mainly related to the tourist season. The second half of July and the first half of August mark the peak of the tourist season; consequently, the strongest seasonal effect on the exchange rate. At this stage, the strengthening of downward pressures on the Euro exchange rate is a more or less normal trend.
However, what has been observed in recent years is a continuous decline of the Euro even outside the summer season, which signals a continuous increase in the foreign exchange supply in the Albanian economy.
As far as official statistics show, this can be explained especially by the continuous increase in income from tourism and services, but also by the increase in foreign investments, especially in real estate. The balance of payments improved significantly last year and marked the lowest historical deficit. According to the Bank of Albania, for 2025 the current account deficit was worth 178 million euros, 70% less compared to 2024.
However, there continues to be a strong public perception that foreign exchange inflows are also largely linked to criminal activities. The discovery of several money laundering schemes in the construction sector by the Special Prosecutor's Office against Corruption and Organized Crime supports this perception.
In part, the decline of the Euro against the Lek is believed to be driven by a tendency to shrink the supply of the local currency in the domestic market, mainly due to the fiscal policy pursued by the Albanian Government. In recent years, the budget has been in surplus for most of the year. For the first 6 months of 2026, the budget surplus reached a record value of 52.8 billion Lek, an increase of 60% compared to the same period a year earlier.
These factors are exerting continuous pressure on the depreciation of the Euro and the strengthening of the local currency. Since 2024, the Bank of Albania has been trying to slow the pace of the strengthening of the lek, through large purchases of foreign exchange in the domestic market.
From the beginning of 2024 to the end of the third quarter of 2026, the Bank of Albania has withdrawn almost 2.2 billion euros from the market. For the first quarter of this year alone, purchases were worth 140 million euros, a record for this period of the year.
However, even the interventions of the Bank of Albania have not been able to completely stop the decline of the Euro exchange rate. With inflation showing a clear upward trend, the Bank of Albania's space to continue intensive purchases of foreign currency is also narrowing. In June, inflation reached 3.2%, while the core inflation component reached 3.5%./ Monitor
