Albania’s Greek-owned banks are ‘healthy,’ says governor
Greek-owned banks in Albania are stable and have liquidity surpluses despite some withdrawals by depositors spooked by their parent banks closing in Greece, Albania’s Central Bank governor said on Wednesday.
Gent Sejko told a local TV station the debt crisis and bank closures in neighboring Greece had a “psychological but not economic and financial impact” on banks in Albania, which he said remained healthy and well-capitalized.
Three Greek-owned banks control about 15.9 percent of the Albanian banking sector’s assets, down from 20 percent in 2010. The central bank banned them from transferring funds to their parents three months ago, but did not impose capital controls.
“During these days, there have been some withdrawals from the Greek-owned Albanian banks and transfers to other banks, but they were inconsequential compared to the liquidity and capital situation of these banks,” Sejko said, according to a transcript.
Banking sources told Reuters some depositors in Albania had withdrawn savings in the first days of Greece’s capital controls, but the rate dropped off later. Some of the 600,000 Albanians living in Greece even traveled overnight to reach their home towns in Albania to access their cash via branches based there.
A boon from the Greek crisis came in the form of a “portion of the capital and deposits from Greece coming to Albania,” Sejko said.
Remittances in the first quarter of 2015 were 146.7 million euros, up from 118,4 million euros in the same quarter in 2014.
“Despite the situation … these banks continue to be stable and have a liquidity surplus. There is no limitation at all on our part on withdrawals or capital movements,” Sejko said.
[Reuters]
