TIRANA, April 24 /ATA/ During the first quarter of this year, the value of imports of construction materials and metals decreased by 1.9%. This is attributable not only to the decline in demand, as last year demand was high due to the post-pandemic recovery, with all groups growing rapidly in value, but also to soaring prices in international markets triggered by Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Meanwhile, another factor is the Reconstruction process after the devastating earthquake that hit our country on November 26, 2019, which is about to complete soon.
The construction sector is one of the sectors with the most significant contribution to the national economy. Data show that it contributes about 10% to GDP.
Referring to the data published by INSTAT on foreign trade, during the first quarter of this year, the import of construction materials and metals in value is estimated at almost 22.8 billion ALL with a decrease of about 4 billion ALL, compared to the same period of 2022, when 26.5 billion ALL worth of construction materials and metals were imported.
However, this situation does not seem to have affected the performance of lending in construction since, according to data from the Bank of Albania, the banking sector disbursed fresh loans to the construction sector in the amount of 37.1 billion ALL, an increase of 11.8% compared to a year ago. Fresh loan to construction accounted for almost 20% of all new business credit extended by the banking sector last year.
Construction was the second most credited sector in the Albanian economy, after trade. The surplus of construction loans at the end of December reached ALL 72.7 billion, an increase of 16.7% compared to a year ago
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