Albania's public debt on decline after years of growth

Albania's public debt registered a slight decline in 2016 after a six-year continuous increase, the country's official data showed on Thursday.

"Albania's public debt has finally entered its downward trajectory since last year, while it is expected to go down to a more a suitable level," said Erjon Luci, a financial expert at Ministry of Finance.

He added that for economies like Albania, the debt has to be kept under 60 percent of the GDP in order to avoid risks.

In November 2016, the public debt saw a slight drop to the level of 70.9 percent and it is expected to continue the decreasing trend, according to official data.

Official statistics showed that in 2010, Albania's public debt was 715.5 billion leks or 5.65 billion U.S. dollars, which is around 58.5 percent of the GDP that year.

In 2012, the country's debt increased to 61 percent of the GDP and the figure climbed to 65.08 percent in 2013. At the end of 2014, the public debt grew to 69.17 percent.

In 2015, the country's public debt hit the highest level of over 72 percent of the GDP. In March that year, the debt exceeded the level of 1 trillion leks or 7.9 billion dollars.

The Albanian parliament has recently adopted a proposal drafted by the Ministry of Finance to cut the year-on-year public debt. Endi