Invsetments on the rise even in the first quarter of 2017: INSTAT

Investments have followed a positive trend even in the first quarter of 2017, based on the performance of some of the key indirect indicators.

According to the Institute of Statistics, in the first three months of the year imports of machinery and equipment amounted to ALL 28.9 billion, up 5.9% compared with the same period a year ago.

Another indirect indicator, namely the bank loans for investment, also appears on the rise for the first months of 2017.

According to the Bank of Albania, at the end of March, loans for purchase of machinery and equipment by businesses reached ALL 108 billion, up 8.5% since the beginning of the year. Even the performance of public investment has been positive.

According to government’s fiscal statistics for the first quarter, capital expenditure amounted to ALL 10.2 billion, up by 34% compared with the same period a year ago.

Investments are pursuing the positive performance registered in the last two years.

According to data from INSTAT, gross fixed capital formation grew on average by 7.33% for the four quarters of last year.

Investment growth has been one of the main drivers of economic growth, especially due to the high level of foreign direct investment.

According to the Bank of Albania, the Albanian economy last year attracted a total of 959 million euros of foreign investment, marking an annual growth of 17%.

However, the other side of the coin is that investments in recent years have focused on a few major projects, implying that their impact on the economy in general is not as large as it is expected.

SCAN

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