IMF says Albania’s growth probably zero this year

TIRANA, April 7 – The International Monetary Fund made clear on Tuesday that the country’s economy was seriously being affected by the global financial crisis.
Consequently Albania’s economy will grow from zero to one percent this year, according to Gerwin Bell of the IMF speaking at a news conference in capital Tirana.
“Right now we are looking at a number of between zero and one percent,” said Bell.
Albania’s government has insisted and it has predicted good growth of six percent this year. But central Bank of Albania has lowered it to three percent.
The country holds parliamentary elections June 28.
BoA Governor Adrian Fullani said that the country was expecting a slow of the growth this year and the fiscal indicators would be likely affected due to that.
Foreign trade will have its effect on the collection of the budget revenue, thus negatively affecting the financing of the budget deficit.
The governor said that reallocation of the spending was required to cope with this crisis.
He also said that exports were falling, the remittances the same, thus negatively affecting the value of the local currency lek. Fullani acknowledged the expected fall of the economy that could also reduce the volume of trade.
Fullani reassured Albanian consumers that the situation of the banks was stable and urged them to increase depositing their savings.
The finance minister acknowledged Tuesday that the global crisis was exerting pressure on the economy, expressing the government’s readiness to take immediately the required steps.
Bode said that during the first quarter this year there was noted a stabilization of the financial system, of the exchange rate of the local currency and an unchanged export-import balance, adding the amount of exports was the same as last year.
He acknowledged a slow down of the revenue of the budget was also noted.
Bode said the government was saving great amounts of money, contingency plans, to cope with the effects of the crisis if needed. He said for the moment that was 20 billion leks, or some 2 percent of the GDP that could go up to 5 percent of the GDP. That would be added with some 260 million Euro that would result from the privatization process.
International officials have slashed previously optimistic forecasts.
As reasons for such a fall of the forecast Bell cited lower remittances from Albanian workers abroad, a fall in Albanian exports, less credit and other factors as weighing down on growth of the country’s economy.
Albania’s economy has been growing at around 6 percent over the last decade, fuelled by a construction boom, services, tourism, mining and agriculture and increasing consumption.
More than one million emigrants work abroad, mainly in Italy and Greece.