Raiffeisen Sees Albania’s GDP Growing 4.0% in 2010, Up 5.0% in 2011

TIRANA, Feb 10ؒaiffeisen Research expects Albania’s economy to grow by 4.0% this year and expand further by 5.0% in 2011,placing the impoverished southeast European state among the best performing in the region.
The economy of Albania is estimated to have expanded 4.0% in 2009, compared to a 7.9%growth in 2008, Raiffeisen Research, the research department of Austria’s RZB Group, said in a research paper on its website.
“The economic policy is on track to keep on its past success with a yearly average real GDP growth of more than 6% year-on-year in the last ten years. Only GDP growth for 2009 was questionable,” the lender said.
“Albania and Poland are the only countries in Central and Eastern Europe, whose economies obviously could generate a growth even in real terms in the year 2009,” it added.
The improvement of the global sentiment should support the Albanian economy and the macroeconomic situation should be stable in 2010, as well. Re-establishing the pace of financial flows to southeast Europe and intensifying lending activities should support the economic activity to grow by at least 4.0% in 2010, as well, with an even stronger growth trend projected for 2011 and the years afterwards.
“We expect the real GDP to grow by approximately 5% year-on-year on average during the period 2010-2015. The catch-up process is in full swing, which makes an economic deceleration almost impossible,” Raiffeisen Research added.