November 9 (SeeNews) - The European Commission said on Thursday it has raised its projection for Albania's economic growth in 2017 to 4.0% from 3.7% previously.
Growth has been driven by foreign direct investments in the energy sector fuelled by the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) and a large hydro power project, while exports surged 15% based on expanding tourism and a recovery in exports of goods following three years of contraction, the European Commission said in its Autumn 2017 Economic Forecast.
Consumer confidence is improving, employment is rising at a decent pace, and overall wages have received a boost from a 10% wage hike in a large part of the public sector in March, the Commission added.
“Investment and consumption are supported by an accommodative monetary policy. Inflation is low, but projected to rise gradually towards the official target. The fiscal policy stance is only slowly reducing the high level of public debt as a share of GDP.”
However, the Commission has lowered its projection for Albania's economic growth in 2018 to 3.8% from 3.9% in the spring edition of the forecast as investment activity decelerates. In 2019, the rising contribution from private consumption is projected to increase the GDP growth rate to 4.2%.
“The balance of risks to the growth outlook has moved from being tilted to the downside to the upside as political uncertainty has declined and the transmission of an accommodative monetary policy to lending growth seems to have gained traction.”
Detailson Albania from the Commission's Autumn 2017 Economic Forecast follow (pct change) :
|
2017 |
2018 |
2019 |
Real GDP growth |
4.0 |
3.8 |
4.2 |
EU-harmonised inflation |
2.0 |
2.4 |
2.7 |
Private consumption |
2.1 |
2.7 |
3.1 |
Public consumption |
5.0 |
3.5 |
3.3 |
Exports (goods and services) |
10.3 |
8.6 |
8.3 |
Imports (goods and services) |
7.8 |
5.2 |
6.2 |
Unemployment rate |
14.2 |
13.7 |
13.0 |
Current account balance (pct of GDP) |
-7.9 |
-7.8 |
-8.2 |
Source: European Commission