TIRANA, May 31/ATA/ Governor of the Bank of Albania Gent Sejko presented today the annual report of the Bank of Albania for the year 2022 to the Parliamentary Committee on Economy and Finance.
Sejko said that, “The Albanian economy has faced a wave of complex and unprecedented shocks in recent years. These shocks have tested the stability of the country’s economic and financial balances; have offered serious challenges to Albanian businesses and families and have required a quick and coordinated response from public authorities.”
According to him, the average inflation increased, from the average level of 2.0% in 2021, to the level of 6.7% in 2022.
This increase, the Governor explained, was initially driven by foreign prices, but, subsequently, it found greater support from the increase in production costs and inflation expectations in the country.
“In this new economic environment, in order to comply with its legal mandate of price stability, the Bank of Albania started the process of normalizing the stance of monetary policy. This normalization was achieved through the increase of the basic interest rate, from the level of 0.5% at the beginning of 2022 to the level of 2.75% at the end of it”, stated Sejko.
The governor of the Bank said that, “Our forecasts suggest that inflation will return on target within 2024, influenced by the stabilization of prices in global markets and the effects of the normalizing course of monetary policy”.
“Parallel to it, economic growth is expected to maintain stable growth rates in the medium term, despite short-term fluctuations expected during the current and next year. The Bank of Albania will continue to adapt its monetary policy stance to the new economic reality. We will take care that this position is – on the one hand – consistent with respecting the objective of price stability and – on the other hand – coordinated with the direction of fiscal policy and developments in the financial markets”, stated the Governor.
Sejko reiterated the significance of continuing structural reforms, as an irreplaceable instrument to increase the potential of the economy, to strengthen its resistance to shocks, as well as to increase the welfare of society./p.s./
