Albania Central Banks Keeps Repo Rate Unchanged

Albania C'Bank building

Central Bank Governor Ardian Fullani said the central bank's board had decided to keep the rate fixed at five percent.

“The Albanian economy has progressed positively in 2011 despite the [global] economic downturn,” said Fullani during a press conference.

However, he conceded that the economy was underperforming its potential and urged the government to improve competitiveness and attract further investments.

Fullani underlined that local banks faced little potential spillover from the euro zone debt crisis because they were well-capitalized.

“The banks are liquid and their actual level of deposits is the above the [average] level of the region,” he said.

Albania is headed for GDP growth of at least 2.5 percent in 2011, according to the International Monetary Fund.