Albania's Economy Influenced by Eurozone Growth

The economy of the euro area strengthened the growth pace in 2017 Q3. Bank of Albania published its report on monetary policy saying GDP of euro area increased by 2.6%, from 2.4% and 2.1%, in Q2 and Ql, respectively. Economic growth is broad based and has been present across most of the countries. The key contributing factors were the domestic demand and the positive performance of net exports. The leading indicators of the economic developments as well as the confidence indicators were upward in the last quarter, confirming the positive momentum of the euro area economy. December projections, on the economic growth of 2017 and 2018 have been revised upwards compared with those of September. The favorable financing conditions and the improvement of employment indicators have supported and are expected to strengthen the increase of consumption and the recovery of investments. Inflation registered 1.4% in December, while its average for 2017 is assessed to be 1.5%, from 0.2% in the previous year. Inflationary pressures are considered as contained, as long as core inflation continues to be near 1%. The economies of Albania's trading partners, Italy and Greece, registered a positive growth in 2017 Q3. The Italian economy continued its upward trend, supported by the strong growth of investments, together with the growth of private consumption and net exports. In Greece, investments grew rapidly, surpassing the negative impact of the contraction of consumption and the strong growth of imports. Inflation registered low but positive values in both countries (1.0%). Energy and food prices supported the positive values, but the core inflation remained low. BoA assesses that positive economic indicators in euro area, particularly in trading partners of Albania will build up positive impact on economy of our country.

Source: Albanian Daily News