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E-TJERA

Euro breaks new records, drops below 94.9 lek

Politiko 2026-06-15 13:42:47

The euro has started this week on a downward trend and has fallen to a new historical minimum. According to the official exchange rate of the Bank of Albania, the European currency was exchanged today at 94.89 lekë, the lowest level ever recorded.

The Euro-Lek exchange rate has fallen by approximately 1.9% since the beginning of 2026, while on an annual basis the decline has reached 3.2%.

Foreign exchange agents say that the start of the summer season has brought a significant increase in supply in the foreign exchange market. This has further strengthened the pressures for the depreciation of the Euro, which had been present since the first quarter of the year.

In addition to tourism, a significant impact is believed to be brought by foreign exchange flows related to investments in the real estate market. Bank of Albania data showed that for the first quarter of the year, the weight of real estate investments in the structure of foreign direct investments reached 43%, the highest level ever recorded.

According to the Bank of Albania, foreign direct investments increased again in the first quarter of 2026. According to data from the Bank of Albania, they reached the value of 404 million euros, marking a new historical record for this period of the year. Foreign investments have increased by 11.6% compared to the same period last year.

In particular, foreign investments in real estate are estimated to have reached 174 million euros, also marking a new historical record for the first quarter of the year.

The real estate sector is believed to attract significant amounts of income from criminal and informal activities. Last week, the Special Prosecution Office announced the discovery of a money laundering scheme in this sector, in which important builders are also accused of being involved.

Market sources say that the Bank of Albania continues to intervene regularly in the foreign exchange market, with the aim of withdrawing part of the foreign exchange and slowing down the strengthening of the domestic currency. The amounts of foreign exchange purchased during 2026 have not yet been made public, but, nevertheless, they are not able to fully curb this appreciation of the domestic currency. In the period 2024-2025, the Bank of Albania has purchased more than two billion euros in the domestic foreign exchange market.

While inflation is rising and has already reached the 3% target, further interventions in the foreign exchange market to buy Euros become in theory more difficult, because further injection of Lek into the economy is likely to fuel inflationary pressures even more.

On the other hand, a further strengthening of the Lek could partially amortize these pressures, but, on the other hand, will deepen the negative effects on the exporting sectors of the Albanian economy. /Monitor