Threat of global crisis in Albania

TIRANA, April 25 – Is Albania in a financial crisis or not? Is it affected by the global crisis, especially its manifestation in neighboring countries Greece and Italy?
On Monday, speaking to the Voice of America in the United States, where he had attended an IMF meeting, Finance Minister Ridvan Bode acknowledged that the lowering of public debt is one of the priorities of the Albanian government. According to Bode, the Albanian government aims to reduce public debt to under 55 percent by 2015 from 58.7 percent now of the country’s GDP.
The Minister admitted that the country’s economy has lost the rhythm of growth, although Albania was not directly affected by the global economic crisis.
Such a fact has also been accepted by the central Bank of Albania which in its recently published Financial Stability Report states that over 26.8 percent of Albanian families have debts. More than 80 percent of these families spend about 30 percent of their monthly income on repayment of debt.
Moreover, nearly 54 percent of the families interviewed said they have received loans from relatives or other individuals and not from financial institutions. The survey was conducted with a sample of 1,200 families.
These are some indicators that the country is being affected by the global crisis despite claims from the authorities which seem more to be a form of political campaign.
Berisha insists that his cabinet has pledged hundreds of projects which are a clear sign that the country is in good progress.
Albanian authorities say they will have a 4-5 percent growth this year, from 1.2 percent put by the IMF.
Authorities make different efforts to show their success, like being “the third place in the world about access to data” as said recently.
Berisha says that through following the practice of e-concessions, Albania meets the highest standard of transparency in this fundamental field of the economic activity.
But the country should really take care of itself. Keeping budget deficit under the 60 percent threatening border line is one of the priorities. But it also needs more, like opening up new jobs. Despite government claims, work in many road projects seems to have stopped.
Albania is a tiny country that due to its status not directly linked to the European Union member countries it is not suffering direct impacts of its crisis. But it is also a country that practically produces very little and can hardly compete with its neighbors.
It is good that the authorities try to be optimistic. But experts see no clear signs of efforts to cope with the impact of the global crisis.
International financial authorities have warned that the effects of the global crisis may be smaller to countries like Albania but they will also last longer there.