Non-performing loans (NPLs) in the Albanian banking system dropped to 15.9 percent in May, the lowest level since May 2011, experts of the Bank of Albania (BoA) told reporters Thursday.

"The central bank measures over the past few years are yielding stable results in the efforts to lower the level of non-performing loans. NPLs ratio fell to 15.9 percent in May 2017, from 18.2 percent in December 2016," experts said.

Experts said that the reduction in bad loans is expected to enhance lending capacity of second-tier banks.

"Cleaned from the write-off effects, the annual growth of the total loan portfolio in April remained modest, at 3 percent. However, the BoA expects lending activity to improve gradually in the quarters ahead, reflecting the expected expansion of demand and improvement of supply," experts said.