EBRD supports IMF agreement
04/04/2014 00:00
Tear gas and water cannons amid the clashes in the DP opposition protest which ended after three hours in Tirana 26/11 21:13
During the presentation of a report about the transition period, the Chief Economist
of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, Erik Berglof,
praised the controversial agreement signed between the Albanian
government and the International Monetary Fund.
“The IMF agreement was very important and gave the message that things have changed. Now there will be more transparent and clearer rules. The government will pay its bills. There is serious commitment for improving the investment climate. Maybe we haven’t finished building the house yet, but we are working on the foundations and the ground floor. You need these foundations before addressing the important problems of the energy sector, the reforms of the retirement scheme, bad loans and the financial system”, Berglof declared.
The Albanian Prime Minister declared that remittances and construction, two important sources on which the Albanian Economy depends, have dropped considerably in the past years. In these conditions, the government has identified other fields that will make an important source of economic growth.
“We have an important source of economic growth with energy, oil and minerals, if we are able to develop a new and democratic model for our market. We have another source for economic growth in tourism, if we are able to identify the right type of tourism to develop. As long as we have continue with a tourism development model based on urban chaos and patriotic visits, it is impossible to think that it will be stable in the long term. We have another source of growth in agriculture”, Rama declared.
The EBRD representative appealed for ending political conflicts and to create the right conditions for attracting more investments through economic and political reforms. At this point, Mr.Bergof and Mr.Rama underlined the need of investment in the human capital.
“We are the country with the highest number of useless diplomas. Our universities have a very sad place in classifications, and certainly this will get sadder if we don’t end the ruin of our human capital”, Rama declared.
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