TIRANA, May 26 (Xinhua) -- The crediting to Albania's private sector showed a steady growth in low levels during the first quarter of the year, the Bank of Albania said Friday.

According to the national bank, the expansion of the loan portfolio was driven by lending in national currency lek and by loans to households.

Referring to the bank's data, the crediting to households grew by 5.3 percent in Q1, supported by both consumer financing and housing purchases.

Improvement of the housing market and expanding of consumption, coupled with improving consumer confidence and increasing disposable income, have supported the growth in demand for loans from this segment, said bank experts.

The second-tier banks operating in Albania expect the positive trend to continue in the second quarter of the year for this segment, said the central bank.

On the other hand, the report showed that business credit further slowed the pace of growth in Q1.

The annual growth rate of this portfolio of 1.8 percent is among the lowest in a years timeframe. The weakness of business lending is determined by the still tight lending conditions of banks and by the low demand from this segment, said the report. Enditem

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