The Governor of the Bank of Albania, Gent Sejko, in a press conference emphasized that the Albanian economy continues to maintain a solid growth pace. This development is reflected in the labour market, where wages in the private sector have increased by 9.3%, and the unemployment rate has dropped to 8.3%.
Economic Growth and Financial Markets
Sejko highlighted that this improvement in employment and wage growth may lead to a controlled increase in inflation, creating a more stabilized financial environment. According to him, financial markets have been characterized by stability, where lending to the private sector has seen significant growth, while non-performing loans remain at minimal levels. A positive indicator for the economy also remains the stability of the exchange rate, which has maintained its steadiness.
Forecasts for 2025 indicate that inflation will return within the target set by the Bank of Albania. In this context, the bank has decided to keep the base interest rate unchanged, contributing to a stable financial environment.
Growth of Electronic Payments and Financial Digitization
In addition to labor market aspects and financial stability, Governor Sejko also emphasized the growth of electronic payments. At the event for the launch of the Program for Accelerating the Acceptance of Electronic Payments in partnership with Mastercard Europe, he underlined that financial digitization is an important step towards the formalization of the economy and increasing payment efficiency.
One of the most significant indicators in this aspect is the 300% increase in card usage over the past four years. According to Sejko, now 7 out of 10 transactions are conducted by card, showing a major shift towards digital payments. Albania has crowned this success with its membership in the SEPA geographic zone, integrating the country into the European payment system.
Conclusion
The improvement of the labor market and the rise of financial digitization are two significant developments positively impacting the Albanian economy. Employment and wage growth help strengthen purchasing power, while financial digitization contributes to reducing informality and increasing transparency. With positive forecasts for inflation and monetary stability, Albania appears to be moving towards a more stable and more integrated economy with European markets.
Written by our correspondent A.T.
