WASHINGTON: The International Monetary Fund's board on Monday signed off on its latest review of Albania's $457 million loan program, and released 58.8 million euros ($66 million) of cash for the Balkan state.
The approval came after an IMF team visited Tirana in November to evaluate Albania's economic reforms, especially in the electricity sector.
Albania loses $150 million a year from thefts of electricity and the government is forced to finance pricy energy imports. The government has begun hunting electricity thieves and has been seeking to restructure energy prices as part of the IMF program.
The IMF said it was "encouraged" by the government's initial steps to reform the country's power sector.
"Sustained implementation of these reforms over the medium term will be needed, as they are vital for fiscal sustainability," Min Zhu, deputy managing director at the IMF, said in a statement.
He also said the Albanian government so far was sticking to its reform pledges since the IMF approved its loan program last year.
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