The Bank of Albania has bought 800 million euros so far this year, mainly to mitigate the strengthening of the lek against the European currency, but also in regular auctions to increase the foreign exchange reserve. Despite the record number of purchases, the Governor of the Bank of Albania, Gent Sejko, stated that the bank is unable to protect the productive sector of the economy from the strengthening of the lek, as this is a task that belongs to the government.
"We have never intervened in the market to protect a certain industry, it is not in our power. Producers should be protected with fiscal measures, not with policies from the Bank of Albania. We have withdrawn 800 million euros so far and the figure will increase further, but we do not publish them so as not to encourage speculation in the market," said Sejko.
The head of the Bank of Albania made these statements following a request from socialist MP Erjon Braçe, who suggested that the BoA forecast the performance of the exchange rate.
"I would like the bank to mobilize for exchange rate predictability," said Brace.
But the governor said predicting the course is impossible.
"It is impossible to predict the exchange rate, it is very fiendish. The exchange rate naturally negatively affects production or those who have their income in euros. Since we have increasing emigration, we have income in euros that the beneficiaries lose. We need to have a weak economy in order for currencies to strengthen," said Sejko.
Last year, the BoA bought around 1 billion euros from the domestic market, mainly to prevent the lek from strengthening against the euro. But despite these massive purchases of the European currency, the Albanian lek has continued to strengthen against the euro, albeit at a slower pace.
Editorial
