Government sets aside funding for possible crisis

TIRANA, Dec 10 – The government has set aside $160 million, if needed, in Albania next year to assist in a possible financial crisis, according to a premier’s adviser.
Petraq Milo said in an interview to Shqip newspaper that the 2009 budget had set 15.7 billion leks for such a possibility.
Milo said that coordinating the fiscal policy with the government’s policy has created a stable macroeconomic situation in the country, with little fear of any significant impact from the global slump.
The official also said that inflation would remain at the annual 3-4 percent rate.
The Albanian government has continuously said that the country is not impacted by the global crisis, though acknowledging it is not immune. It insists that GDP growth in 2009 will again be at the normal rate of six percent though the International Monetary Fund set it at 3.5 percent, while the central Bank of Albania believes it will reach 4.5 percent.