IMF Says Ready To Discuss New Programme for Albania

"If the Albanian authorities are interested, the Fund stands ready to discuss some other type of arrangement that would follow once the current program expires," the fund's resident representative Ann-Margret Westin said in a statement.

"Such a program would still focus on maintaining macroeconomic stability but would contain less program conditionality on structural reforms and may or may not include access to Fund financing," Westin said.

IMF's last three-year funding programme for Albania, supported by the combined Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility (PRGF) and Extended Fund Facility (EFF), is set to expire in January. The programme worth 17.05 million special drawing rights (SDR) ($26.78 million/18.29 million euro) is the IMF's sixth programme for the impoverished Balkan country.

"As in all countries that we work with, the request for another Fund arrangement comes from the authorities," Westin said. This can be further discussed with the government during the upcoming IMF annual meetings in Washington in mid-October and during the final review mission in Tirana in early November, she added.