FOLLOWBUSINESSALBANIA MACRO/CLOSER LOOK
An International Monetary Fund (IMF) mission, led by Anita Tuladhar, visited Tirana from January 18 to 24, 2016, to conduct discussions on the combined ninth and tenth reviews, under Albania’s Extended Fund Facility (EFF) Arrangement.
T h e IMF P r ogram & Private Consumption
in Albania Eduard Zaloshnja, PhD
At the conclusion of the visit, Ms.Tuladhar made an official statement, in which she stressed that the [IMF] program has put the Albanian economy on a path towards sound public finances, financial stability and economic recovery. With the program coming to an end, it will be essential that Albania commits to maintaining its momentum of economic reforms. These reforms are crucial to boost confidence, spur investment, and strengthen growth prospects”. Looking ahead, Ms.Tuladhar declared that “The Fund team sees the economy strengthening. GDP growth is expected to have reached 3.4 percent in 2016, and is projected to accelerate to around 4 percent over the medium term, driven by large energy-related foreign direct investment and a pickup in domestic demand. Average inflation has reached 1.3 percent last year, in line with rising domestic demand, and is expected to continue increasing gradually until reaching the target rate of 3 percent by 2018”. It is obvious that the IMF team has detected an increase in consumer demand, which is expected to fuel further GDP growth and inflation increase, up to the healthy levels of 4% and 3%, respectively. In fact, in the 3 years of the IMF program, private
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