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Albanian economy expected to grow by 3.5 pct in 2017: minister

Xinhua, February 22, 2017 Adjust font size:

Based on the positive performance of Albanian economy, Finance Minister Arben Ahmetaj told a press conference Tuesday that Albania's economic growth in 2017 would be 3.5 percent.

In the first quarters of 2016, the country's economic growth reached 3.3 percent, which is very significant. The growth will continue this year and is expected to reach 5 percent in next two years, Ahmetaj told reporters while speaking about the latest developments and forecasts for the future.

Ahmetaj said that in 2016, revenues were estimated at 275.8 billion lek (2.16 billion U.S. dollars) or 18.1 billion lek (141 million U.S. dollars) more than that in 2015.

He stressed that the growth of revenues did not come as a result of tax hike but the formalization of the economy and good management.

As for Albania's agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) which is about to end on Feb. 24, Ahmetaj said, "Although the agreement will end on its scheduled deadline, the cooperation will continue as the IMF will continue to monitor Albania's finances on a quarterly basis." Enditem