TIRANA, October 27/ATA/ Minister of Finance and Economy Delina Ibrahimaj stated today that the country is facing high inflation, mainly influenced by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, while emphasizing that the government will strengthen social systems to protect the strata in need.
During her speech, at the 16th annual conference of the Bank of Albania, organized in cooperation with the London School of Economic and Political Sciences (LSE), the minister emphasized the need to undertake prudent policies which on the one hand address inflation and on the other hand do not affect sustainable economic growth.
“During the last 3 years, we suffered unprecedented shocks, the earthquake and the pandemic. But the recovery of the economy during 2021 was significantly stronger than what was expected, materializing at 8.5%. We are facing other, possibly stronger challenges, such as the energy crisis that started at the end of 2021 and the Russian aggression in Ukraine, in 2022. However, the Albanian economy has coped best. In the first 6 months, the economy grew by 4.2% and this growth was spread across all sectors and its components. This is because, although prices rose, we immediately took policies to cushion the immediate shocks to consumption and the performance of the economy. Unemployment reached levels of around 11% and employment increased by 4.3%,” she said.
According to the minister, inflation, although significantly lower than the countries of the region and in Europe, remains the biggest challenge.
“In the 9 months of this year, the average inflation was 6.3%, reaching the peak in September with 8.1%. The policy of keeping the price of electricity unchanged played an important role. The non-change of the price of energy has influenced keeping under control the increase in production costs in the country, affecting the part of inflation that is produced in the country”, she said.
Another factor, according to the minister, was the dynamics of the exchange rate of the Albanian Lek versus the Euro.
According to her, the Bank of Albania has pursued a controlled exchange rate regime for decades. Another element, she said, is the dynamics of inflows and outflows that reflect the positive performance of the economy.
“We aim to increase the resistance and elasticity of the Albanian economy. We will strengthen social protection systems to protect the strata most in need, to ensure that this crisis will have as little impact on the standard of living of those who cannot cope with the crisis. We will continue to invest in increasing digital capacities,” she said. /j.p/p.s./
