Bank of Albania: Albania is not endangered by a possible bankruptcy of Greece

In an interview given for Top Channel TV, Bank of Albania’s Governor Gent Sejko ensured that Albania’s government is not risked by a possible bankruptcy of Albania’s neighbor, Greece. “The only possible threats the Albanian economy will feel will be a slight decrease of remittances and trade exchanges but these phenomena are not new for our economy,” declared the Governor.

Asked about the impact of nonperforming loans in the economy, Sejko admitted their negative impact in deterring banks to provide loans to businesses and individuals, since they hit a percentage of 22.8% in the first quarter of this year.

“On Thursday was held the third economic forum where we held long discussions about the nonperforming loans and the proper manners in addressing this problem. We came out with an action plan which foresees that banks must reach agreements with their clients in restructuring the debts and avoid the court trials,” said Sejko.

Speaking about the effects of the Greek deep crisis in the Albanian economy, Sejko said that “our bank system is immune towards the Greek heavy situation. In the case of a bankruptcy of Greece, the immediate effect will be the decrease import-export activity and remittances but this will not have a negative effect in our economy, since they have decreased continually in the last five years. The Albanian bank system is immune due to the measures taken by the Bank of Albania five years ago in order to ensure a normal activity of private banks with Greek capital in our country. These banks are not direct branches of Greek banks located in Greece and we have taken measures to ensure their independence from the Greek capital.

News source: ATA

Photo credits: Albinfo / Wikimedia