Founding of Bank of Albania

The Bank of Albania is the central bank of Albania, founded in the period when Ahmet Zogu, later King Zog I, was consolidating power after the unstable years that followed independence. It was set up as the National Bank of Albania, with major involvement of Italian capital and officials, and had the right to issue banknotes and manage the state's finances, as well as the national currency, the Albanian franc. During the Second World War and the communist period the banking system was changed, and the bank became part of the centrally planned state economy. After the fall of communism in 1991, the bank was reformed as an independent institution with the aim of keeping stable prices, and it issues the lek, the national currency.

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