TIRANA, April 20 /ATA/ Bank of Albania announces that “the economy is well on track to recovery, without the need to further increase monetary stimulus.”
The Governor of the BoA, Gent Sejko, said on Tuesday in the Parliamentary Committee on Economy meeting that “the latest data are optimistic that economic growth will bounce back within this year.”
According to him, the improvement of pandemic situation and reflection of this tendency on the economic indicators increase the hope that the most difficult moment has already passed and it will not be necessary for the basic interest rate to be further reduced from the historic minimum of 0.5% or go further in the use of unconventional monetary policy instruments.
In the annual report 2020, the Bank of Albania states that the premises for economic recovery are positive, yet uncertainties for the future remain high. Future economic developments remain conditioned by the epidemiological situation. Once it is all over and uncertainties come to an end, economic activity is expected to bounce back also driven by significant monetary and fiscal stimuli, as well as the recovery of global economic activity.
An element that adds optimism in this regard is also the start of the vaccination process.
The increase in fiscal stimuli mitigated the shock to the economy from the pandemic. The relaxation of restrictions paved the way for a gradual recovery of economic activity and the labor market. Average inflation rate for 2020 recorded 1.6%,
The Bank of Albania emphasizes that the banking sector made a very positive and useful contribution during the crisis, moving ahead with lending and undertaking to pay part of the financial bill, through the process of deferring the loan installment payment and through its restructuring. The report emphasizes that the continuation of lending is an important precondition to provide the necessary financial support, in view of the economic recovery.
/j.p/sm/
