Off the wire
• 2nd LD Writethru: UN report urges end to WikiLeaks founder's "arbitrary detention"  • Majority of Finns support restoration of border controls: poll  • 3rd LD Writethru-China Focus: Probe suggests action against 123 people for Tianjin blasts  • Palestinian killed, several wounded in West Bank tension: medics  • Feature: Chinese Spring Festival celebrations reach multicultural populations in Texas  • China's embassy honors Confucius Institute of Lome University  • China giving Angola money for yellow fever vaccines  • China stops approving new coal mines  • Spotlight: Chinese tourists expected to become most powerful buyers in winter season  • 2nd LD Writethru: UN working group deems detention of WikiLeaks founder Assange "arbitrary"  
You are here: 　 Home

Albanian government to cut debt by 4.6 percent by 2017

Xinhua, February 5, 2016 Adjust font size:

The Albanian government is going to cut its public debt by 4.6 percentage points by 2017, as part of a reform program designed for the next three years, the Albanian Daily News newspaper reported Friday.

Through a large-scale reduction of public loans, the reform will drag the country's public debt form 72.5 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP) down to 67.9 percent of it.

Meanwhile, the tax deficit will be reduced from 4 percent of the GDP to 0.5 percent in 2018, thus enabling the government to reach a balanced budget.

While pledging no more tax raise on individuals and businesses, the government will also cut current spending and future investments.

On the other hand, an accelerated economic growth will contribute to the debt cut as well, since the debt is calculated on the basis of its proportion in the GDP, the government said.

Albania's GDP grew by 3.4 percent in 2015, up from the 2.6 percent rate a year before. The document containing the reform plans predicted that the country's GDP growth will continue to accelerate and reach a 4.2 percent rate in 2018, according to the newspaper. Endi