TIRANA, Dec 12 /ATA/ – The Ministry of Finance on Friday released for public consultation the Economic Reform Programme (ERP) for 2026–2028, outlining the country’s macroeconomic and fiscal policies aimed at preserving stability and supporting sustainable growth.
The programme focuses on boosting employment, ensuring medium- and long-term fiscal sustainability and strengthening macroeconomic stability. It also includes a set of structural reforms linked to the EU’s “New Growth Plan”, designed to raise Albania’s potential growth and accelerate economic convergence with EU standards.
Finance Ministry said the economy has shown strong resilience to shocks – including the earthquake, the COVID-19 pandemic and geopolitical tensions – while maintaining key financial and economic fundamentals.
Economic growth averaged 4.3% in 2022–2024 and is projected at 3.9% for 2025, driven by services, tourism, construction, private consumption and investment.
For 2026 – 2028, GDP is forecast to grow by an average of 4%, supported mainly by domestic demand, investment and services exports. Final consumption is expected to rise by 2.5% a year; investment by 6.6%; exports of goods and services by 4.7%; and imports by 3.2%, yielding a slightly positive contribution from net external demand.
On the supply side, industry is expected to expand by 2.7% annually, construction by 3.2%, services by 5.4% and agriculture by 0.2%.
Fiscal policy will continue to target a gradual reduction of public debt and a positive primary balance, projected to reach 1% of GDP by 2028. Public debt is forecast to fall from 54.1% of GDP in 2025 to 46.4% by 2031.
Capital spending will remain above 6% of GDP over the medium term, while the budget deficit is targeted at 1.7%, ensuring a current account surplus of around 4.6%.
The private sector grew by 9.5% over the past year, improving household purchasing power.
Employment is expected to rise modestly by 0.1% per year during 2026 – 2028, with the unemployment rate falling gradually to 8.5% by 2028. Labour productivity is projected to improve slightly, with services contributing the most to job creation.
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