The productive sectors of the economy are in an unstoppable crisis and the government is finding economic growth through wage increases and taxes. The Albanian economy grew by 3.51 percent in the second quarter of the year, compared to the same period last year. According to INSTAT, two-thirds of the economic growth came from just two groups related to the government. They were the "Public Administration, Education and Health" group, which contributed 1.65 percentage points to the expansion of the economy, and the Net Taxes group, whose contribution was 0.87 percentage points.
Both of these sectors are related to the government. The expansion of the first group has come about due to the increase in salaries for the administration. While the increase in the second group has to do with the government's fiscal movements, more precisely the increase in budget expenditures.
Meanwhile, other sectors of the economy, those beyond the government, seem to be in deep agony. Tourism, which the government trumpets as the flagship of the Albanian economy, in the second quarter of the year contributed only 0.47 percentage points to economic growth. Real estate activities contributed 0.37 percentage points, while construction contributed 0.3 percentage points. In short, Albania has tourism and travelers, but the economy is not gaining anything.
Meanwhile, agriculture and industry continue their unstoppable crisis, as both sectors shrank again. According to INSTAT, agricultural production decreased by 2.5 percent in the second quarter, while industry shrank by almost 1.8 percent. Both sectors made a negative contribution to economic growth with -0.46 percentage points and -0.18 percentage points, respectively.
Editorial
