Meta from prison: Rama government's policies have failed

The President of the Freedom Party, Ilir Meta, in a letter from his prison cell, has expressed his criticism of the current model of the Albanian economy.

He emphasizes that the latest report by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) confirms the PL's analysis of the failure of the current government's economic model and shows that the Freedom Party's priorities are the right path for real change and convergence with European Union standards.

According to the IMF report, the Albanian economy has achieved growth supported by domestic demand, including services and tourism, but medium-term growth in the period 2014-2024 has remained below pre-global financial crisis levels of 2008.

In his post, Meta also highlights the decline in employment and the decrease in exports, noting that gross domestic product (GDP) per capita is lower than the EU average, and economic growth is too slow to reach the level required for convergence with European Union standards.

Full letter:

The International Monetary Fund report has confirmed the Freedom Party's analysis of the country's current failed economic model and also clearly proves that the Freedom Party's 5 Priorities are the right path for a new economic model that brings us closer to European Union standards.

As highlighted in the IMF report, the economy continues to grow, supported by domestic demand, with an increase in services and especially tourism, as well as construction activity.

Despite the propaganda of "Renaissance", from a structural perspective, medium-term growth in the period 2014-2024 has remained below the pre-global financial crisis level in the period 2008, i.e. at mediocre levels.

According to INSTAT data, Gross Domestic Product in the second quarter of 2024 is estimated to have increased by 4.09% in real terms, compared to the third quarter of 2023.

The fact that the most important sectors of the economy producing material goods continue to have a negative, worsening contribution to economic growth remains alarming.

Economic growth in the industrial, extractive, manufacturing, energy production and agricultural sectors remains negative in the third quarter of 2024.

Economic growth in agriculture in the third quarter of 2024 was minus 2.54%, in industry (including energy) at minus 4.04% and the processing industry in negative growth at minus 6.5%. While the construction sector has significant growth at 5.3% and trade at 6.2%.

The country's economic model deliberately continues to be oriented towards the construction industry, imports, and services.

The government has no strategy to increase production in the processing industry, mining, hydrocarbons, agriculture, etc.

The effects of the economic downturn on real sectors of the economy such as agriculture, manufacturing and energy have been reflected in the reduction of employment, as well as the significant and continuous decrease in exports.

The decline in production and sales volume in the material goods sector has directly impacted the decrease in employment levels in the third quarter of 2024 compared to 2023.

In the industrial sector there is a decrease in employment of minus 5%, in the processing industry a decrease of minus 5.5%.

The decline in production in the agricultural, industrial, and energy sectors has also been reflected in the unstoppable decline in exports.

Despite this growth, Gross Domestic Product per capita remains at only a quarter of the EU average in 2023, and lower than countries in the region.

The economic model must change urgently.

Deep reforms to accelerate income convergence with the EU are necessary to pull the country out of the swamp of narco-economy and money laundering into which the 12-year "Renaissance" government has plunged the country.

Because with a country's economic growth rate of 3.5% each year, convergence with the EU average would take more than half a century (over 50 years).

The country's depopulation requires that the promotion of medium-term growth become increasingly dependent on productivity gains and the economic development model.

But Albania's labor productivity in 2023 was less than half the average for Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe.

For the Freedom Party, the challenge is to achieve an accelerated narrowing of the income gap with the countries of the region and the average of European countries with a new economic model.

The Freedom Party's economic model will be to liberalize the economy so as not to leave its development monopolized by a small number of government client companies in the sectors of construction, tourism, energy, exploitation of natural resources, etc.

It requires the mobilization of financing to improve public human capital services such as education, innovation, health, etc., tax reduction, the removal of differentiated relief for privileged companies that distort markets and eliminate competition, and the reduction of barriers to fair competition between businesses, as well as opening up to international trade.

Only with an increase in Gross Domestic Product above 8% per year will we accelerate the narrowing of the gap and the increase in well-being for the citizens of this country.