More Credit to Farmers

APRIL 23, 2008     U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), Mission Director in Albania, Edward T. Landau, delivered remarks at today’s Agriculture and Rural Finance workshop held in Durres which assessed the current availability of credit to agriculture and explored ways to increase lending in the sector.

“Making credit more available and accessible to the agricultural sector must be a priority if the sector is to become competitive in the global market,” said Landau.

In his remarks Landau noted the need to consider the long term implications of credit subsidies currently under discussion. “Credit subsidies are easy to construct and politically popular, but once engaged, they are almost impossible to stop... and will not lead to a sustained, adequate supply of credit in the long term,” said Mr. Landau.

Currently the flow of credits to the agriculture sector is very low – less than 5 percent of the total loan portfolio in Albania. Past and current USAID programs with Opportunity Albania, formerly known as PSHM, the National Commercial Bank (BKT), and Raiffeisen Bank, have demonstrated that market-based credit activities can succeed both in the agriculture and non-agriculture sectors.

International and local economic experts presented Albania current situation and offered comparisons with other countries. Representatives of farmer and agribusiness associations, representatives from the Ministries of Finance and Agriculture, Food and Consumer Protection, various financial institutions, and international donors participated in discussions following the presentations.

For more information about USAID’s economic development programs, please visit http://albania.usaid.gov 

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