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Albania, IMF 3-year program concluded but cooperation to continue

Xinhua, January 25, 2017 Adjust font size:

The bilateral cooperation between the Albanian government and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) will continue, despite the 3-year program coming to an end, Albanian Finance Minister Arben Ahmetaj and head of the IMF mission Anita Tuladhar told a joint news conference Tuesday.

The IMF mission came to Albania a week ago and after talks and negotiations with Albanian authorities, IMF concluded that all the main objectives outlined in the program had been fulfilled, setting the Albanian economy on track for solid public finances and sustainable development.

Tuladhar said she highly appreciated the efforts of the Albanian government to successfully wrap up the program, while underlining that Albania should continue implementing restricting reforms.

Consolidating revenue collection, reducing sub-standard loans, and pushing ahead with structural reforms to improve the business climate were some of the priorities the Albanian government should focus on in the future, according to the IMF mission chief.

According to her, the IMF's cooperation with the Albanian government in light of the three-year program had been excellent and she expressed IMF's willingness to support Albania in the future.

Meanwhile, Ahmetaj told reporters that the program with the IMF had reached its targets and enabled Albanian economy to grow steadily.

However, he stressed that the Albania would continue to cooperate with IMF in one form or another, noting that a decision on the new agreement would be taken after the June 18 general elections here. Endit