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Lek appreciation? / Deputy Minister of Economy clarifies the situation

2026-07-20 22:00:00, Ekonomi CNA

Deputy Minister of Economy and Innovation, Enkelejd Musabelliu, spoke at length today about the situation with the local currency.

Invited to A2 CNN, Musabelliu stated that in the field of monetary policy, calculations are not made with pencil and paper, but are based on the intersection of a number of macroeconomic factors.

According to Musabelliu, the largest appreciation of the lek was in the period 2023-2024, which also coincides with the greatest development of tourism. Meanwhile, in 2024 and onwards, there is a strengthening of the lek by only 2.8%, caused by income from trade in goods that leave and enter the Albanian economy.

"We must emphasize that when we talk about monetary policy, we are talking about one of the most complicated things in the economy, calculations for which are not made with pencil and paper, nor with fingers, they are being made with macroeconomic models, where a series of economic factors intersect and where economic scientists work to make projections on the one hand, but also to calculate the effects on the other. Now, to explain why the lek has appreciated. The greatest appreciation of the lek was in the period 2023-2024, which also coincides with the greatest development of tourism. Meanwhile, in 2024 and onwards we have a decline or a strengthening of the lek by only 2.8%. What has caused this? On the one hand, it has caused the trade deficit, the income from trade of goods that exit and enter our economy to be reduced from 2021 to 2025 from 7.7% of the gross domestic product, to 0.7% of the gross domestic product. While The current account deficit, that is, the money coming in and the money going out, has been reduced from 13.4% to 5.5%. This has also been combined with a decrease in the risk regarding financial investments in Albania. The credibility of the Albanian economy has increased. The “Rating” of Standard and Poors and all the others, which have rated Albania's debt higher by, let's say, five or 10 million, has led to an increase in deposits in lek, savings in lek, and investments in lek, increasing the demand for the lek, which has also caused its appreciation", - said Musabelliu. /CNA