Albania ranks before-end for infrastructure quality

The International Monetary Fund ranks Albania as the next-end country for the quality of infrastructure, even though Albanian taxpayers have paid billions of euros for public investment.

According to the IMF, for the period 2005-2016, the Albanian government has spent an average of 5.5 percent of the national production for public works, mainly roads, ports and other infrastructure segments annually. This ranks Albania in 5 countries with the highest level of capital spending in the last decade. But this aggressive investment rate has not sufficed for the country to have an infrastructure comparable to similar economies.

According to the IMF, from a group of 40 states considered, Albania is the second with poor infrastructure, leaving the guard behind. All other economies, including those similar to Serbia and Macedonia, have roads, ports, railways and better energy infrastructure even though they spend less.

But what is the reason why billions paid by Albanian citizens have not brought about the expected improvement in infrastructure? The answer to the IMF also relates to investment efficiency.

According to the report, Albania is part of a group of low investment efficiency countries, while the World Bank estimates that at least 30 percent of funds spent on public projects are wasted or due to corruption or procrastination of projects.