Kosovo’s ban on Serbian imports not enough to save Albanian exports from new decline

Story Highlights

• Albania was unable to compensate lack of electricity exports with higher exports to neighboring Kosovo and continue taking advantage of a Kosovo-Serbia trade war following a good start in the first couple of months after Kosovo imposed taxes on Serbian and Bosnian imports. Hit by a series of negative effects such as a slump in international oil prices, a prolonged drought paralyzing domestic hydro-dependent electricity generation and Europe’s single currency continuing to trade at a 10-year low against the Albanian lek, Albania’s poorly diversified exports registered negative growth rates for the second month in a row last January, hinting 2019 will be a tough year following double-digit growth rates of around 13 percent in the past couple of years