INSTAT has currently published the GDP growth reports for only the first two quarters of 2011 at a time when almost all EU aspirants, except for Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo, have already published the GDP growth rates for the third quarter of 2011
TIRANA, Jan. 31 – A controversial decision made by ruling majority MPs this week putting the country’s state Institute of Statistics, INSTAT, under the exclusive control of Prime Minister Sali Berisha has sparked fresh debates over the already biased data published by it as the country’s economy’s economy strives to overcome the crisis impacts.
Opposition MPs and economy experts strongly opposed the move saying that the current control the Prime Minister already has over INSTAT was being legally enforced and suggested that the state institute producing national accounts should be placed under Parliament’s authority in order not to further harm its reliability.
“INSTAT should be an institution supervised by Parliament and not the Council of Ministers or the Prime Minister so that its data are reliable,” said Mimi Kodheli, an opposition Socialist Party MP and deputy chair of the parliamentary economy committee.
Economy experts quoted by VoA in the local Albanian service this week said they are worried data released by this institute will be further compromised and could be used for political purposes under the direct supervision by the Prime Minister. According to them, the decision on INSTAT is against the government decentralization tendency by setting up independent agencies. “Scientific independence monitored or under the auspices of Parliament would be the best status for INSTAT and the reliability of its data,” experts say.
However, for government officials the change is just a routine procedure putting INSTAT as an institution with current undetermined supervision under the supervision of the Prime Minister or the respective minister.
INSTAT which in Oct. and Nov. 2011 conducted the housing and population census has currently published the GDP growth reports for only the first two quarters of 2011 at a time when almost all EU aspirants, except for Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo, have already published the GDP growth rates for the third quarter of 2011. INSTAT published the latest GDP quarterly report in the last days of 2011, in a publication delayed by more than four months, showing the Albanian economy had grown by 0.5 percent in the second trimester of 2011. The publication of the third quarter GDP growth report initially scheduled for Dec. 2011 has been postponed for early Feb. 2012.
IMF over INSTAT
As the most important international financial institution monitoring Albanian public finances, the IMF has often voiced concern over the reliability of data produced by INSTAT. In its latest 2011 country report, IMF underlined ongoing problems with respect to the reliability of the annual and quarterly national account estimates.
“In particular, the consistency between quarterly and annual data has not yet been secured. The quality of source data also remains a major concern. The level of cooperation between units within INSTAT and between INSTAT and other government agencies that provide significant inputs needs to be improved,” says the IMF
INSTAT has been receiving substantial technical assistance from the IMF and the European Commission during the last decade. The Fund’s most recent assistance has focused on the national accounts statistics. In particular, assistance has been provided on improving annual national accounts by production and expenditure approaches and developing quarterly estimates.
