Bank of Albania: Remittances increased by 2% in the third quarter of 2014

Bank of Albania issued a latest report on the performance of remittances during the third quarter of 2014, by declaring that remittances increased by 2%, compared to the same period of a year before.  Remittances have increased to 156 ml EUR only during the third quarter but for the period of January-September 2014, the amount of remittances is estimated at 406 ml EUR, similar to the same amount of remittances in 2013.

Bank of Albania’s report also shows the decrease of FDIs at this period, compared to the FDI’s data of 2013. For the period of January-September, Foreign Direct Investments reached the amount of 526 ml EUR, less than 24%, if we compare this figure to 2013 figures.

The report also shows that in total the balance of the country’s current account, which measures the difference between foreign exchange inflows and outflows, rose by 29% versus the same period a year ago.

The deterioration of the current account balance happened mainly due to the increase of trade deficit, which this year is expanding as a consequence of imports increase. The balance of payments data confirm that the external position of the Albanian economy continues to be fragile due to high dependency on imports and external sources of funding.

News source/photo credits: Scan Tv