Friday, January 6, 2012

World Bank to Help Albania Mitigate Effects of Crisis

Here's another way for me to call attention to the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network (BIRN) - www.birn. com - to find little-known or unusual news about Albania and Kosova.

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World Bank to Help Albania Mitigate Effects of Crisis

The World Bank will expand its funding of Western Balkan countries to help them respond to the impact of the Euro zone debt crisis.

Besar Likmeta
BIRN
Tirana

“The main objective of the increased lending envelope for Western Balkan countries, including Albania, is to help them prepare for and effectively respond to external shocks, while at the same time preserving focus on structural reforms and social safety nets which are essential for maintaining sustainable growth,” the bank said in a statement on Friday.

The Albanian government is expected to use the additional World Bank assistance to reduce its fiscal vulnerability and help safeguard economic and financial stability for continued growth and job creation.

According to the Bank, global growth slowed in 2011 and the economic outlook for Europe has deteriorated considerably in the wake of the deepening Euro area crisis.

The Western Balkans region is very sensitive to overall economic growth in the European Union, its largest trade partner.

“It is further vulnerable to changes in monetary and financial conditions in European countries whose banks are the dominant asset holders in Western Balkan countries,” the global lender said.

“Remittances flows into Albania and Bosnia and Herzegovina are equivalent to about 10 percent of GDP and these flows have been already affected by a slowdown in Euro-zone economic growth,” it added.

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