Albania T-Bills Score Record Hike

Tirana, Jan. 14, 2008 (AE) – A lack of liquidity on the financial system in Albania caused hike in treasury bills yield this week and growing pressure on Bank of Albania to lower base interest in the country.

12-month Treasury Bills reached a multi-year high at 8.98 per cent on Thursday, levels not seen in Albania since summer 2004. Demand for treasury bills was scarce, reflecting lack of liquidity in the financial system.

Pressure on Bank of Albania to revise its policy grew this week. Several bankers, including CEO of Raiffeisen Bank Oliver Whittle, asked for lower rates in order to the  “help economy in difficult times”.

Former governor of Bank of Albania, Shkelqim Cani, supported the request. In an interview, he said that “BoA is to late for such move and that Albania should follow other central banks in the world by cutting interest rates”.

In December, the Central Bank of Albania kept the base rate unchanged at 6.25 per cent. Albania’s current account deficit was the main reason against the lowering interest rates. Meanwhile, its monetary policy has remained neutral since November 2007.

Short URL: http://www.albanianeconomy.com/news/?p=1634

Posted by editor on Jan 14 2009. Filed under Banking & Finance, Business, Economy, Invest-Inform, Top News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry