TIRANA, October 5 – The governor of the Bank of Albania, Gent Sejko, has stated, among other things, that inflation in Albania increased further in the months of July and August, by 8%.
Sejko said in a press conference on Wednesday that inflation increased due to the rapid increase in food prices. Thus, he clarified that the economy continued to grow in the first six months.
“Inflation increased in July and August, 7.5% and 8%, respectively. The main contribution to inflation comes from the increase in the price of food and fuels. The trend of increasing prices is affecting all products. The war in Ukraine caused problems in the markets of basic foods, energy materials and other basic materials,” he said.
Further Cbank chief said the Albanian economy continued to grow in the first 6 months of 2022, while it decreased in the second 3 months of this year. According to INSTAT, economic growth decreased to 2.2% from 6% in the first 6 months.
In addition, Sejko said family consumption brought stable rates of economic growth. “This tendency is present in the labor market. The increase in demand for work and the lack of labor force is putting pressure on the salary increase in the private sector,” he said. According to him, the Albanian financial markets continue to be calm, while the increase in the basic interest rate is close to historical low levels. In the meantime, the exchange rate of the lek remains in a strong position compared to the euro.
“In particular, the war in Ukraine is a major source of uncertainty, and escalation of the conflict could lead to higher commodity prices, disruption of supply chains and lower or even negative regional and European economic growth,” he said.
Following are the decisions taken by the Governing Council in its meeting on Wednesday: to increase the basic interest rate by 0.5 percentage points, bringing it to the level of 2.25%; to increase the one-day deposit interest rate by 0.5 percentage points, bringing it to the level of 1.25%; to increase the one-day loan interest rate by 0.5 percentage points, bringing it to the level of 3.25. /Argumentum.al
