TIRANA, March 28 – The World Bank on Saturday lent 266 million euros to Albania for its public finances and investment in road maintenance.
A bank statement said that 200 million euros would be used as guarantor for Albania to pay back a previous 300-million-euro international loan and also secure money for the country’s budget.
The other 66 million euros will be spent on road network maintenance, which has been systematically underfunded.
Albania’s government is suffering from a rapidly rising public debt that has reached 70 percent, up from 60 percent in 2012.
Last year, the bank gave Albania another budget support loan of $220 million and $150 million for its energy sector.
Patrizio Pagano, the new executive director representing Albania in the World Bank Group’s Board of Executive Directors, visited Tirana March 24-27 to meet with high level authorities to assure them of continuous cooperation and support for Albania’s efforts to enhance growth, reduce poverty and increase shared prosperity.
Pagano praised the government’s reform agenda and the emerging good results, and expressed his support for the government’s efforts focusing on Albania’s comparative advantages, finding new sources of growth, and creating an environment conducive to investment and job creation.
