S&P Affirms Albania at B+, Outlook Stable, Says Finance Ministry

Ratings agency Standard & Poor’s affirmed its sovereign credit rating on Albania at B+, with a stable outlook, the country’s finance ministry said on Tuesday.
S&P expects Albania’s economy to grow by 4.5% in 2021, after a gross domestic product (GDP) decline of 5% estimated in 2020 following the double shocks of the Covid-19 pandemic and the November 2019 earthquake, the finance ministry said in a press release, citing the rating agency.
“The rollout of vaccines, accommodative fiscal and monetary policy, and lighter restrictions on the movement of people will support economic recovery,” the ministry added.
Albania’s budget deficit is estimated at 6.7% of GDP in 2020, up from 1.9% in 2019, due to income losses, additional costs and increased capital expenditures associated with the pandemic, the ministry said, adding that the agency expects the current account deficit to narrow only gradually over the 2021-2024 period.