2.5% GDP growth in 2009

TIRANA, Oct 16؁rdian Fullani, governor of Albania’s Central Bank (BoA) declared in front of various international media that the country’s economy is expected to grow by just 2.0%-2.5% this year, much slower than last year, but faster than originally expected. The statement during an economic forum in Athens that Fullani was attending
“Our forecast is for between 2% and 2.5% growth this year, down from 6% last year,” Fullani told the media. “But our original forecast at the start of this year was for between zero and 1%.”
Albania has largely escaped the direct effects of the world financial crisis but has been hit by a crisis of confidence that has weighed on growth.
But the worst of the crisis has passed and confidence in Albanian banks has been restored, Fullani said, adding that capital flows are returning to the country.
“Now we are seeing that deposits are growing back and remittances from abroad are increasing again and confidence has been restored,” he said. “So that means that bank lending should increase.”
“The key issue is for us to see an increase in foreign direct investment and in bank lending,” he added. “And so far we are seeing some good signs.”
The government in Tirana has said Albania’s economy grew by 8.0% last year and 6.0% in 2007.The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the International Monetary Fund estimate the country’s economic growth at 6.8% for 2008.
Last month the government lowered its growth forecast for the current year to a real 5.8% from 6.3% projected earlier.
In a later statement to Reuters, Fullani also said the BoA is entertaining the notion of lowering the base interest rate again. BoA lowered its base interest rate earlier this January to 5.75% to boost crediting to economy and prevent a possible liquidity crisis in the system.