New Restrictions Would Put Recovery under Threat, BoA Says

TIRANA, November 5

The recovery of Albania’s economy during the summer months will start to slow down if new restriction measures are going to start to bite on the economy, first deputy Governor of the Bank of Albania (BoA) Luljeta Minxhozi said on Wednesday.
She said that despite the positive trends over the past months the economic recovery perspective remains fragile.
“The new wave of infections and the introduction of restrictive measures in many countries. And potentially in Albania, pose a serious threat to public health and to economic progress for the following period,” Minxhozi said.
Further on, she added that the pandemic had a tough negative impact on the Albanian economy. The consequences of the pandemic were reflected in increased insecurity that caused a significant contraction of economic activity, job reduction, and deflation. Although all sectors of the economy were affected the tourism and the hospitality and accommodation industry were the worst hit by COVID-19.
Moreover, data from INSTAT confirmed a 10.2 percent GDP decline during the second quarter of the year. During the same period, around 50,000 jobs were lost and the unemployment rate grew to 11.9 percent.
However, Minxhozi said that the fiscal packages helped to relieve the labor market situation to some extent.
She added that the BoA scenario, which does not include new restriction measures expects an economic rebound at potential by 2022.
In the end, Minxhozi said that the Supervisory Council decided to keep the key rate unchanged at 0.5 percent.

Source: BoA