2009 a difficult year, says Fullani

TIRANA, Dec 22 – Governor of the central Bank of Albania Ardian Fullani warned that 2009 will be a difficult year for Albania’s economy due to the recession of the global markets.
“Although the banking system will continue to be profitable, the coming year will be full of unknowns,” Fullani said in a meeting with the bankers’ association. “It would be foolish to think that our economy would be affected only slightly by the global downturn.”
Albania’s state statistics agency announced a record-high GDP growth of 9.9 percent in the last four quarters ending September 30, but the accuracy of its data is widely disputed by economists and the political opposition.
A previous projection by the IMF for 2008 was for growth of 5.5 per cent, while the IMF has forecast that growth will slow down to between 3.5 and 4 per cent in 2009.
Economists have also expressed concern about the impact of the global financial crisis on migrants working abroad because their incomes remain crucial to Albania’s economic wellbeing.
A study published on December 6, covering the first three-quarters of 2008, showed remittances of Albanian emigrants working abroad were down 13 per cent on the same period in 2007 to 623 million Euros.
Tirana-Albania’s central bank, has asked local second tier financial institutions to increase their capital through their 2009 earning in order to be better prepared for the global financial crises, Balkanweb.com reports.
Though Albania’s commercial banks are well-capitalized, the global crises prompts for increasing protective measures.
The governor of the Bank of Albania, Ardian Fullani, warned on Friday that 2009 will be a difficult year for Albania’s economy, due to the recession that has hit global markets.
“Although the banking system will continue to be profitable, the coming year will be full of unknowns,” Fullani said in a meeting with the bankers’ association. “It would be foolish to think that our economy would be affected only slightly by the global downturn.”
Albania registered a record high Gross Domestic Product growth of 9.9 per cent, in the last four quarters ending September 30, the National Institute of Statistics, INSTAT, said.