12 August 2008 | Montenegro and Albania will have the highest economic growth in the Balkans region in 2008, according to the International Monetary Fund’s forecasts.

In a period of slower GDP growth in Western Europe, the IMF has optimistic expectations for Albania’s economic development, according to the Albanian newspaper Gazeta Shqiptare.

The country’s projected economic growth, at 6 per cent, puts it only after Montenegro, whose economy is expected to grow by 7.2 per cent by the end of the year. The two countries are followed by Bulgaria and Bosnia and Herzegovina, each with a 5.5 per cent projected economic growth, Romania – 5.4 per cent, Macedonia – 5 per cent, Croatia – 4.2 per cent and Serbia – 4 per cent.

As a whole, the economic growth in the region for 2008 is higher than the previous year. According to the publication, EU membership and the of the regional economies’ opening up to globalising market have increased the competition the countries have to face but at the same time given them new opportunities for development.

Although it has one of the highest growth rates in the region, Gazeta Shqiptare wrote, Albania still has the lowest GDP. As BalkanTravellers.com reported – despite a still underdeveloped infrastructure, the country is attracting international investments, especially in real estate, due to its growing economic and political stability.