The devaluation of the euro/ Albanian exporters, letter to international institutions

2023-08-03 12:03:00, Ekonomi CNA

The devaluation of the euro/ Albanian exporters, letter to international

The devaluation of the euro has affected the income of Albanian exporters, who have been calling for measures to be taken for days.

Albanian exporters addressed international institutions with a letter this Thursday.

They seek international intervention and assistance for monetary and fiscal policies that ease exchange rate shocks.

The letter states that the large and temporary exchange rate fluctuations are "also affected by informal or criminal money in the Albanian economy, mainly in real estate and profitable businesses".

Full letter:

Subject: Assistance requested for monetary and fiscal policies that mitigate shocks from
exchange rates

Directed by: Mrs. Stephanie Eble
Resident Representative for Albania-IMF
Regional Resident Representative based in Vienna

Ms. Odile Renaud-Basso
Tirana Resident Office-EBRD

Mr. Emanuel Salinas

Country Manager-World Bank

For information: Mrs. Delina Ibrahimi
Minister of Finance and Economy

Mr. Gent Sejko
Governor, Bank of Albania

From: The Unified Office of Export Associations
Dear managers of financial institutions,
First, allow us to express the positive evaluations of the community of Albanian Exporters, for your help in the first steps of the Albanian transition. We greatly appreciate the fact that your institutions consider business associations as useful partners in the implementation of structural and sectoral reforms. The export community today represents over 5,000 exporting companies, over 200,000 employees and has a contribution of nearly 23% to GDP. Thanks to their growth and consolidation, exporters are one of the main pillars of increasing competitiveness and improving the trade balance and the current account balance.

We are aware that under the conditions of the application of the fluctuating exchange rate, we will be affected by external shocks. This situation has been felt more in recent years. The depreciation of the euro currency is about 20% and about 13% on an annual basis. We would appreciate it positively if the strengthening of the national currency came from the strengthening of our economy due to increased productivity, increased competition, increased foreign direct investment and income from remittances.

But the large and temporary fluctuations that severely damage exporters and tourism seem to be affected by informal or criminal money in the Albanian economy, mainly in real estate and profitable businesses. We estimate that these fluctuations will probably be felt even more in the following years, therefore we consider that it would be very valuable to join forces with your experts, for the promotion and facilitation of export policies, which include fiscal and monetary policies , but also the importance of reducing costs and fiscal burdens. We remain fully hopeful that your institution will provide us with the required expertise, which is based on the fact that you have very long experiences from almost all member states.

Best wishes to you,
Unified Office of Export Associations./ CNA.al