Opposition worried over economic performance

TIRANA, Feb. 22 – The opposition Democratic Party says the country’s economy has been heading to recession since the final quarter of 2013 when a Socialist Party-led government took over. Ridvan Bode, a Democratic Party MP who was in charge of Albania’s public finances for the past eight years, says the Albanian economy lacks financial resources and government is taking the country toward economic decline and recession for 2014 with its policies.
In a press conference last weekend, Bode said the USD 120 million government borrowed in the final quarter of 2013 did not go to pay accumulated unpaid bills, VAT refunds or disability assistance.
The former finance minister warned government has drafted an overoptimistic budget and will face difficulty in the coming months.
“Even though government has forecast an 18 percent growth in revenue for 2014, it targeted revenue 2 percent lower in January 2014. This is testimony that the performance of revenue will be far from the target and the revenue growth forecast. This will widen the revenue gap and increase financial difficulty in the coming months,” said Bode.
The former Finance Minister also denounced lending have plunged to negative growth rates, the decelerating deposits and foreign direct investments dropping in the final quarter of 2013.