The Albanian economy will grow by 3.2 percent, according to the World Bank’s latest Global Economic Outlook report, or 0.6 percentage points lower than the January report.

Even for 2023, the economy is expected to grow by 3.5 percent, 0.2 percentage points less than the previous estimate.

The World Bank lowered its forecast for global economic growth and warned that many countries could fall into recession as the economy enters a period of stagflation similar to that of the 1970s.

Global economic growth is expected to fall to 2.9 percent this year, from 5.7 percent in 2021 – 1.2 percentage points less than the 4.1 percent forecast in January, the Bank said.

Growth is expected to remain at these levels during 2023 and 2024, while inflation remains above target in most economies, the report said, highlighting the risk of stagflation.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and rising commodity prices as a result of the war have complicated the existing damage caused by the Covid pandemic to the global economy, which the World Bank says is now entering what could be “a period of prolonged weak economic growth with high inflation ”.

“The war in Ukraine, the isolation in China, the problems in supply chains and the risk of stagflation are hampering global economic growth. “For many countries, the recession will be difficult to avoid,” said World Bank President David Malpass.

Growth in advanced economies is projected to slow significantly to 2.6 percent in 2022, from 5.1 percent in 2021, before shrinking further to 2.2 percent in 2023, the report said.

Meanwhile, growth in emerging markets and economies is projected to fall to 3.4 percent for 2022, from 6.6 percent in 2021, well below the annual average of 4.8 percent from 2011 to 2019.

On the other hand, inflation continues to rise in both advanced and emerging economies, pushing central banks to tighten monetary policy and raise interest rates to curb further price increases.