Both these items are limited in time and size, making necessary a steadier correction of the external position of our economy. This correction should aim at covering the trade deficit with stable funding resources, in the form of foreign direct investments and promoting export industries in branches that may constitute a competitive advantage for Albania. However, short-term developments in foreign trade for October to November show a somewhat different performance compared with the first nine months of the year, testifying a modification of the trends observed earlier. Thus, the country’s exports fell in annual average terms by about 7.4 percent, recording a slowdown in comparison with the average decline by about 19 percent during the first nine months of the year. On the other hand, imports recorded an annual average decline of 17% per cent over these two months, compared with the average annual decline of 7 percent recorded in 2009. These developments contain encouraging signs for sustainability of the balance of payments in the short run Fiscal policy had an expansionary nature during most of the year, being materialized in a budget deficit of 6 percent of GDP. The increase of budget deficit reflects both the action of automatic stabilizer in the form of decreased revenues, and the intended countercyclical character of fiscal policy, through increased wages and capital expenditures. The country’s economic activity slowdown has dictated a slow pace in budget revenue growth, especially after the first quarter of the year.

During the first three quarters of the year, the Albanian economy ensured a positive growth, thus preserving the financial stability and the key indicators of macroeconomic stability: price stability, public debt level and balance of payments sustainability. The global economic and financial crisis, which was significantly intensified during the first half of the year, put in question the financial system sustainability, the macroeconomic stability and the long-term development prospects of the world economy. The determined response of public authorities, increased coordination of economic policies and keeping open the world trade channels, helped preventing any negative economic spirals. The latest data on the global economy indicate a recovery of economic activity in the third quarter onwards. The monetary and fiscal stimulus packages resulted successful in terms of stabilizing the global economy. However, the sustainability of global economic growth will remain fragile, as long as the economic activity continues to rely on significant monetary and fiscal stimuli. In particular, the public debt sustainability, which is burdened by fiscal stimulus bill to exit the crisis, is becoming a more and more aggravated problem for many countries. In this complex situation, choosing the right moment for withdrawing the economic stimuli will have a decisive importance in the future economic performance. In a more structural aspect, the recent crisis is expected to leave visible traces in the economic development. In a long-term horizon, it seems that new economic and strategic balances are being determined, thus re-dimensioning the poles of global economic growth.