Rama for France 24: Albanians are poor, but not as far as figures say

From his office, Prime Minister Edi Rama has told French24 television about the economic situation in the country, the cultivating of cannabis, justice reform and the country's EU integration. Regarding the cannabis situation and the replacement of this illegal activity in the economy, Rama said Albania is a poor country, but not as reportedly in numbers, as it has incomes from immigrants and the informal economy.

This year we've had a hard turn to cultivate cannabis. We've had a dramatic landing. I have full confidence that at the end of the year, cultivating cannabis will be history. We may be weak economically, but we're not starving. We're poor like countries in the region. We've had 3% growth.

We're confident it's going to be five. We had support from immigrants. Let's say the Albanian state is not rich, Albanians are poor but not as poor as the figures can say, as there is money coming from immigration and it is the informal economy”, Rama said.