World Bank concerned about Greek crisis' impact on Albanian economy

The World Bank has expressed concerns about the possible impact the Greek crisis could exert on the economies in Eastern and Southern Europe, local media reported Tuesday.

The global perspective report recently published by the World Bank said that "the economic and financial pressure on Greece poses an extra threat to the region's predictions, though the exposure of other Eurozone countries has dropped since 2010," according to Albanian Daily news.

The report said the banking systems in Albania, Bulgaria, Macedonia, Serbia and Romania remain unprotected through the branches of Greek banks.

Greek-owned banks account for 18 percent of the total banks in Albania, which threatens to expand the influence of the Greek financial system on these countries.

The report also considered remittances as a risk factor, noting that the remittances that Albania receives from migrant workers in Greece account for 3.7 percent of the country's gross domestic product. Endi