Albania secures a $135 million credit line to help insure bank deposits

Albania has secured a 100 million-euro ($135 million) credit line from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development to help insure bank deposits when required.

The EBRD, which was created in 1991 to assist the countries of the former communist bloc in Eastern Europe, said Thursday that the stand-by credit line is to enhance the Albanian Deposit Insurance Agency's capacity to protect 996 billion lek (6.98 billion euros; $9.46 billion) of deposits. The bank also offered a grant of 300,000 euros for the agency.

Earlier this year Tirana got a 162 million-euro loan from the World Bank and a 331 million-euro loan from the International Monetary Fund to support its financial sector.

Albania's public debt rose to 70.5 percent in 2013 from 60 percent the previous year.