Businesses "give up" on overdrafts, increase investments/ New credit for private non-financial corporations increases by 7.2% in the first three months
New business credit continued to grow in the first quarter of 2026, supported by the expansion of financing in some of the main segments of the economy. According to data from the Bank of Albania, private non-financial corporations benefited from 67.3 billion lek of new credit in the January-March period, up from 62.8 billion lek a year earlier, marking an increase of 7.2%.
The growth was mainly driven by investment and real estate financing. Loans to this category reached 17.7 billion lek in the quarter, up from 13.1 billion lek a year earlier, an increase of 35%. The expansion of this segment indicates a stronger orientation of businesses towards long-term investments.
Significant growth was also recorded in working capital financing, which reached 13.9 billion lek, from 11.3 billion lek a year earlier, or about 23% more. This development indicates an increase in businesses' needs for liquidity and support for daily activity.
Likewise, loans for equipment purchases have expanded by 24.8%, reaching 6.1 billion lek, while this segment is directly related to investments in technology and the expansion of production capacities.
On the other hand, one of the main financing segments has shown contraction. Overdrafts, which constitute a significant part of short-term financing for businesses, fell to 29.5 billion lek in the quarter, from 33.3 billion lek a year earlier, or about 11.5% less. This indicates a decrease in dependence on short-term financing in favor of more stable forms of borrowing.
Overall, the data show a shift in the structure of business lending towards financing for investment and development, while the use of short-term instruments such as overdrafts has declined compared to a year ago.
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