TIRANA, Feb. 13 (Xinhua) -- The Albanian economy has gained momentum and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is willing to further support Albania with technical assistance and to minimize potential risks, visiting IMF Deputy Managing Director Zhang Tao said on Tuesday.
Zhang also praised the IMF-Albania cooperation program that was completed a year ago. According to Zhang, the IMF's senior officials assessed such program as successful.
"We are pleased the program was completed successfully and I take advantage of this occasion to compliment the Albanian government on meeting key objectives of this program," Zhang said in meeting with Albanian Finance Minister Arben Ahmetaj.
The Finance Ministry said in a statement that Ahmetaj praised the cooperation with IMF in the framework of the three-year program with the Albanian government.
Ahmetaj informed Zhang of the structural reforms that the Albanian government has undertaken in recent years.
Speaking about the economy, Ahmetaj said that economic growth was quadrupled compared to 2013, and in the first ninth months of 2017 the growth stood at 3.9 percent.
Ahmetaj said the Albanian government remains committed towards fiscal consolidation, reduction of public debt and advancing structural economic reforms.
The visit of Zhang to Tirana is the first of an IMF's senior official in the last 10 years.
