TIRANA, March 13 – The impact of the November 26 earthquake that hit Albania last year and the recent COVID-19 pandemic are expected to slow economic growth in 2020, according to An International Monetary Fund (IMF) team
The IMF team, led by Jan Kees Martijn, concluded remotely additional discussions with Albania on the 2019 Article IV consultation.
“The near-term outlook for the Albanian economy has changed markedly during the past three-and-a-half months. The earthquake that hit Albania on November 26 is expected to dampen growth in 2020, as the adverse impact on economic activity (in particular, tourism) exceeds the positive impact from expected reconstruction efforts. In addition, the recent global outbreak of the coronavirus (COVID-19) is expected to slow economic growth in 2020 further, and this shock too will hit tourism. The magnitude of the slowdown is highly uncertain at this moment,” Martijn stated.
The head of the Mission urged the Albanian government to ensure the transparency of the reconstruction projects and prioritize the most vulnerable. As regards the coronavirus pandemic, Martijn emphasized the need to make sure that the health sector has sufficient resources and that monetary policy remains “strongly accommodative”.
“Beyond 2020, once the current adverse shocks have passed, the authorities should build stronger fiscal buffers, that will allow for a larger fiscal stimulus to address possible shocks in the future. Therefore, the measures to reduce public debt and to contain fiscal risks proposed in our concluding Statement of November 26, 2019 remain critical,” he added.
