Ahmetaj: Economy growth has accelerated

22/08/2015 00:00

Economic growth in Albania has accelerated despite the unfavorable environment and the situation with neighboring countries, Arben Ahmetaj, Minister for Economic Development said on Saturday. He emphasized that lack of lending opportunities have not halted the Albanian economy, which is being pushed by three main reasons.

“Entrepreneurs and customers are regaining trust in each other, internal production has been reactivated, and we managed to regain the trust of foreign investments”, said Ahmetaj, citing that only in the first quarter of 2015, this last category invested more than 268 million euros in the country.

In his interview for Top Channel, Ahmetaj spoke also about one of the most debated issues lately, that of oil prices. He stressed that Albania does not impose heavier taxes on fuel than other countries, but the price difference is due to the fact that circulation tax is paid on vehicles and not fuel.

He refused to respond to opposition calls to lower to 7 lek/liter the circulation tax, adding that the former government politics indebted the state and left the present government to deal with it. Nevertheless, Ahmetaj accepts there some big players in the oil market are trying to dictate prices, and calls for more aggressive monitoring from state agencies, but denied there is a monopoly on this market.

Top Channel