Konfindustria: Do something, or it’ll explode

Tirana, June 24. Konfindustria, the Albanian business association, has declared that bad loans in the banking industry are turning into a time bomb. Through a press communiqu鬠Konfindustria called upon the Prime Minister, the Ministry of Finances and Directorate of Taxes and Excises to undertake every possible legal step to avoid the “grave consequences for the Albanian economy and the stability of the country from the unprofessional and subjective loan operations of commercial banks to companies reporting continual financial loses”. The communiqu顩ncludes a number of measures to render safe the bad loan ‘bomb’.
First, Konfindustria is asking the Directorate of Taxes and Excises to release a list of all companies with high levels of loans compared to the registered value of their assets. Second, Konfindustria is asking the Bank of Albania to declare the percentage of bad loans for each bank or other crediting institution.
Konfindustria is deeply worried by the latest report of the Bank of Albania, which stated that bad loans reached Euro 300 million and now constitute 3.92 percent of the total amount of loans awarded by Albanian banks. Konfindustria believes there is a clear and present danger that loans to commercial banks are supporting already bankrupt companies, which do nothing but borrow money and increase its number of creditors. Konfindustria noted that the disguise of financial loses through bank loans can turn into a time bomb for both the banking system and the Albanian economy. (Tirana Times Staff)