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Albania Officials Bicker Over GDP Data
Tirana | 06 January 2009 | Finance Minister rejected an economic growth projection given by the state statistics institute, but found himself rebuked by the Prime Minister.
The statistics institute INSTAT projected that Albania registered a record high Gross Domestic Product growth of 9.9 percent in the last four quarters ending September 30, a period that includes the last quarter of 2007 and the first three quarters of 2008.
Finance Minister Ridvan Bode said during a meeting of a governmental commission that the INSTAT projection was only for a quarter, while growth for the year was between 6.0 and 7.0 percent of GDP.
But Bode was later rebuked by Premier Sali Berisha, who said that the Finance Ministry was at odds with the real numbers, which have been certified by the IMF.
The IMF has not confirmed that it has certified the INSTAT results. In the last public appearance on November 11, IMF Mission Chief Gerwin Bell said that “growth has remained buoyant and on track to reach 6 percent again this year.”
Albanian experts have raised serious questions on the accuracy of the data presented by INSTAT.
“I don’t think that is an accurate projection because the previous projection of the IMF is 6 percent,” Shkelcim Cani, former governor of the Bank of Albania, told Balkan Insight.
“Nothing has happened, such change is like a car shifting from 60 to 100 kilometres and we would noticed it,” Cani added.
According to INSTAT, the construction of the Albania- Kosovo highway was the main factor for this spectacular growth together with tourism. Cani dismissed the claim, arguing a road which is not yet finished cannot have such an impact on economic growth.
Source: Balkaninsight
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