Good afternoon,

Today I have the special pleasure to share with you the good news that the international agency “Standard & Poor’s” has raised Albania’s rating by one category, placing our country for the first time in the BB- category.

This S&P rating comes six months after the international agency upgraded Albania’s outlook from stable to positive and is an assessment of our efforts to ensure sustainable economic growth, strengthening public finances, and the effectiveness of structural policies. The upgrade by Standard & Poor’s is even more significant in the context of the difficult global economic situation, as a significant number of countries have seen their ratings downgraded by the international agency.

This rating underscores our confidence in our ability to address economic challenges while strengthening our financial fundamentals. It is an endorsement of our growth strategy and our public finance management practices.

I would like to emphasize that the transition to a higher rating scale usually requires a relatively long time to build confidence that the improvements in the country’s economy are sustainable.

The upgrade strengthens Albania’s external position and brings concrete benefits to the country’s economy. Now, the country will be perceived more positively by foreign investors, expected to translate into more foreign investments as well as easier conditions for Albania’s borrowing on international markets. This improvement is also expected to be reflected in the local market, in the form of lower financing costs for banks, companies, and individuals.

The upgrade by Standard & Poor’s confirms the good situation of the country’s economy, the stability of public finances, and the positive expectations for the reforms undertaken.

S&P underlines that this rating upgrade is a recognition of Albania’s strong economic resilience and prudent management of public finances in the face of a series of successive challenges.

Albania has consistently demonstrated its ability to withstand shocks, Standard & Poor’s says, and despite these challenges, the economy has grown at an impressive average of 5.8% per year over the past three years, while improving public finance parameters.

Macroeconomic indicators have improved significantly, unemployment is at historic lows, inflation is back on target ahead of expectations, the external position has improved thanks to the very good performance of the tourism sector, foreign direct investment has reached historic highs, while public debt has declined to 59.2% at the end of 2023.

This latest assessment by the international agency encourages our determination to achieve higher economic growth and set ambitious development goals, as well as to further strengthen public finances. The progress in the European integration process is an important impetus to accelerate the pace of reforms, and we expect that the European Commission’s Growth Plan for the Western Balkans, which accompanies the implementation of important reforms, will also serve as a solid support in this direction.