TIRANA TIMES EDITORIAL
Nov 11–The news this week from Eurozone has been bad enough to force the EU to cut its economic growth predictions to nearly zero, warning a new recession might be in the works for an area made of countries that are key strategic economic and political partners for Albania.
The biggest troublemakers are Albania’s neighbors and largest trading partners – Greece and Italy, and thus, as our cover story points out, it is clear another economic crisis is now at Albania’s gates.
One thing is for sure: Greek and Italian economic woes won’t stop at border, and the Albanian government cannot wish the ill effects Albania will see from the renewed economic crisis. And with Italy becoming the center stage of the Eurozone crisis this week, the risks to Albania just doubled.
Despite assurances by the Albanian government that Albania is a beacon of economic growth in a sea of recession, there is now more than ever a need to have a frank discussion in this country about the true costs of the economic crisis, and how to prepare for the future.
It’s not a question of whether the effects will spill across the border. They already have. Remittances are down, the cost of public debt is on the rise, and the government has had to tighten its belt in public investments to balance spending. Albanian migrant workers will return home increasing numbers and it will be harder for anyone to get loans in Albanian banks, which are 95 percent foreign-owned and are made up of in good part of subsidiaries of Greek and Italian banks. That’s not to mention the psychological toll the entire ordeal will take on common Albanians and businesses.
As well, Albanians need to learn from what went wrong in Italy and Greece, and prevent it from happening here.
Outside frank assessments by officials at the Finance Ministry, in public, the Albanian government has been caught in the idea of creating an image of prosperity at home for political gains. As such, it has painted a far rosier picture than the reality, and the new crisis might find both the government and the Albanian public unprepared.
In the past few months, instead of having a full debate about the level of foreign debt and its costs, the government proposed an expensive new parliament building to be built when the money can be used to pay down the debt or build things like roads and other infrastructure this country so direly needs.
Albania already has a parliament building. What it hasn’t had in the past two years is a parliament that is functioning and democratic and where politicians can sit down and discuss things like making sure the country suffers the least amount possible from the emerging economic hurricane in the Eurozone.
The delays of the past two years make the renewed crisis also terrible news about Albania’s integration into the EU, with enlargement likely to go to the back burner as EU leaders try to sort out their economies. Economic hardship will more than likely make further enlargement harder, and countries like Albanian will face more rigorous economic conditions. Albanians can’t cry over spilled milk about the time lost in the European integration process, but need to work twice has hard now to avoiding any more delays due to political quarreling at home.
