TIRANA, November 18/ATA/ Finance Minister Petrit Malaj stated today that the effect of the euro devaluation on reduction of the public debt is only 0.4%.
Malaj reacted to statements by Democratic Party MP Jorida Tabaku who said that the Bank of Albania has estimated that 45% of the decrease in debt comes as a result of the euro devaluation.
According to her, this supports the opposition concerns about the damage that the euro devaluation is bringing to the economy.
“The devaluation of the euro is causing damage to the economy, the industry has decreased by 7% and is causing the fictitious decrease in debt”, stated Tabaku. Hence, she expressed the need for another economic model to protect Albanian products.
Regarding the effects of the exchange rate on debt reduction, Minister Malaj stated that the effect of the exchange rate is only 0.4%.
“The effect of the exchange rate is only 0.4% into the 1.2% that the public debt has decreased from 2023 to 2024”, said Malaj.
Malaj also explained the policies that the government is undertaking to support Albanian companies to mitigate the effects of the euro devaluation.
“To make Albanian products more competitive in the international market, the draft budget of 2025, plans about 5.6 billion ALL that will go in the form of grants to support Albanian startups, where about 300 million ALL have been allocated, so far. There is support for small and medium-sized enterprises in the form of a grant worth 100 million ALL. We have increased the employment promotion and professional training scheme in the amount of 750 million ALL, as well as the scheme of supporting farmers and oil reimbursement with about 4.4 billion ALL”, Malaj explained.
According to him, these are initiatives that will help and facilitate Albanian enterprises to make them more competitive in the international market. /j.p/p.s./
