TIRANA, March 20 (Xinhua) -- Albanian policy makers should use the positive political and macro-economic climate at the moment to advance reforms to mitigate risks arising from high public debt, head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) mission to Albania Anita Tuladhar told reporters Tuesday.
Speaking at a conference held on conclusion of the first monitoring mission carried out after the end of the program with the Albanian government, Tuladhar urged the Albanian authorities to step up efforts to deal with the settlement of arrears, non-performing loans in the financial sector, and strengthen medium-term growth.
The delegation headed by Anita Tuladhar held meetings and talks with several Albanian officials during their two-week visit to the country.
"The key priorities are: pushing ahead fiscal consolidation, increasing the efficiency of public investment spending, strengthening the institutional framework for banking supervision and solving under-standard loans, and removing obstacles in the business/investment environment through judicial and anti-corruption reforms," the IMF mission said in a statement.
According to the IMF, efforts to do this will create new growth opportunities that will accelerate the country's EU integration process. But, according to the mission, this good moment may not last long.
The biggest risks that might harm the country's economy is a slowdown in EU growth, the global risks of financial markets, as well as other domestic factors such as high public debt, the domestic banking system exacerbated by under-standard large loans, bad weather conditions and insufficient progress in justice reform, IMF said in its statement.
The IMF also recommended Albania pursue a more ambitious target for fiscal deficit.
