Selected Issues Papers

In recent years, Albania has experienced a sustained appreciation of the domestic currency. This raises the questions of what factors are driving this appreciation and how to calibrate appropriate policy responses. Drawing on insights provided by the IMF’s integrated policy framework (IPF), this paper examines the case for foreign exchange intervention (FXI) in Albania by estimating an IPF model to quantitatively illustrate relevant policy tradeoffs. While the estimation results confirm the shallow nature of the local FX markets, the appreciation of the lek is found to have been primarily driven by fundamental factors, making conventional interest rate policy an appropriate policy tool. Nevertheless, in certain circumstances where the fundamental lek appreciation is likely to be compounded by non-fundamental shocks, including shifts in foreign investor risk appetite, FXI can serve as an effective complementary tool in alleviating output-inflation tradeoffs.