TIRANA, Dec 22 /ATA/ Minister of Finance and Economy, Delina Ibrahimaj, stated on Thursday that the public debt for the period January-September was at the level of 67.7% of GDP.
In nominal terms, this debt, according to her, is in the amount of ALL 1,386 billion, the debt of the central government and state guarantees included.
“We predict that the year 2022 will close with a debt level below 69% of GDP,” she said, presenting in parliament the amendments to the law “On state borrowing, state debt and state loan guarantees.”
According to Minister Ibrahimaj, the amendments are aimed at creating legal spaces to act more quickly and flexibly in the markets, without procedural impediments, in order to guarantee lower interest and borrowing costs.
“In terms of the quality of the debt portfolio, we can say that over the years a lot of work has been done to have a portfolio with reduced risks, making significant improvements in the indicators of refinancing and interest risk in internal debt. From the perspective of interest rate risk, the indicators have significantly improved over the years. The ever-increasing weight of debt with fixed interest rates allows us today to be less influenced by the increase in rates that is unfolding in the financial markets, both in domestic market and international capital markets,” the minister said.
She informed that the average cost of internal debt has been reduced from 5.3% in 2015 to 3.5% at the end of 2021, while that of external debt has decreased from 2.4% in 2015 to 1.9% at the end of 2021.
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