WB: Balkan is threatened

During a meeting with regional experts from the World Bank, Gill declared: “Look at what is happening in Albania, Serbia and Bulgaria. These countries had close ties with Greece and Italy in commerce, the banking system and the job market. These economy now have the worst perspectives for the economic growth”.

The World Bank economist thinks that the European crisis has brought a new reality. “They used to say in the past that the farther from Brussels, the worse it was. Now this has changed. The closer to Athens, the worse it is”, Gill declared.

Albania has been able to avoid recession during these five years of crisis. The decreased domestic demand and the reduction of foreign investments has been compensated thanks to the progress with the foreign sector, mainly exports and foreign investments. According to the European Commission, in 2012, Albania, Turkey and Kosovo were the only countries in the region that kept a positive growth, while all other countries entered in recession.

But being between Greece and Italy, the two economies that have turned into the epicenter of the European crisis, the Albanian economy is losing its resistance. The economic growth of last year, although positive, fell in its lowest level since 1997, at only 1.6%. This is four times lower than the historic average and twice lower than the average during the crisis years, 2009-2011.

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