TIRANA, May 6 – The Albanian economy is on track to accelerate to 3 percent in 2015 driven by private domestic demand despite negative shocks such as massive floods hitting southern Albania last February and a slowdown in oil extraction due to sharply lower oil prices, says the European Commission in its Spring European Economic Forecast.
“Some large projects in the energy sector, such as the construction of the Trans Adriatic Pipeline’s Albanian section, will further lift investment in the years to come,” says the report about the TAP project bringing Caspian gas to Europe whose construction in the Albanian section is scheduled to kick off in mid-2015.
For 2016, the Commission expects Albania’s growth to further accelerate to 3.6 percent and public debt to slightly drop to 70.5 percent of the GDP.
“The latest data confirm that the gradual pick-up in growth, driven by private domestic demand, continues. It is supported by the continuing clearance of government arrears as well as monetary accommodation,” says the report, noting that a stronger revival in lending to the economy requires tackling non-performing loans, currently at around a quarter.
