Albanian central bank cuts key interest rate to record low 3.25%

Albania's central bank on Wednesday cut its key interest rate to a record low of 3.25 percent, down by 0.25 percentage points from the previous 3.5 percent, in a bid to stimulate the country's economy. At a monthly press conference on the Supervisory Council's monetary policy decision-making, Governor of the Bank of Albania Ardian Fullani said "the decision will create more suitable conditions for economic development and stimulate consume and investments in the country." The fresh record low of the central bank's benchmark interest rate reflects the projections for low inflations, whereas the country's economic growth is expected to be weak during the next year. Fullani said that correction of fiscal debt is indispensable to tackle the internal debt, vowing the central bank's commitment to adopt mitigation policies under the conditions of the global crisis.