IMF raises Albania’s 2023 economic growth forecast to 3.6%

Albania’s economy is projected to grow by 3.6% in 2023 after expanding by 3.7% last year, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Tuesday, improving its April forecast by 1.4 percentage points (pp).

In 2024, Albania’s gross domestic product (GDP) will increase by 3.3%, the IMF said in the October 2023 edition of its World Economic Outlook report, keeping unchanged the forecast it made in April.

Average consumer price inflation is forecast to abate to 4.8% in 2023 and 4% in 2024, from 6.7% last year, the IMF said. Albania’s current account deficit is projected to stay at 6% of GDP in 2023, the same percentage as in 2022.

The IMF expects that the economy of the Emerging and Developing Europe area will expand by 2.4% in 2023, after growing by just 0.8% last year, increasing its April forecast by 1.1 pp.

* This article was first published on October 10, 2023, in SeeNews