Nowadays, Albania has the highest level of public debt in the region and one of the highest in Europe.
The pandemic, the economic crisis as well as the reconstruction program following the 2019 earthquake, have led to a significant increase in government debt through all of last year, which brought up the total national debt by 10 percentage points compared to 2019.
According to the ministry of finance, public debt has reached 76% of the national GDP, whereas both the Central Bank and IMF (International Monetary Fund) say that it’s closer to 80%.
In the latest IMF report, it states that our overall government debt is said to have reached around 80% of our GDP, by the end of 2021. In addition, the IMF suggests that it will only begin to drop in 2024, after the reconstruction projects and assistance measures are complete.
On another note, the government program for this upcoming 4-year term claims that they’ll be able to take down the public debt to 60% by the end of their mandate, but according to the IMF this is absolutely unrealistic and ambitious at best, adding that it will continue to remain well over 70%.
In addition, if we add the current energy crisis and the government’s application for a €500 million euros Eurobond, this administration’s attempts to lower the debt will prove to be that much harder.
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