World Bank mulls 75 mln euro loan to back Albania’s EU integration

TIRANA (Albania), April 29 (SeeNews) - The World Bank said it considers approving a $80 million (74.6 million euro) loan to Albania to support the country’s aspirations to achieve integration into the European Union.

Financing would be channelled into a programme named “Second Resilience and Green Development”, which focuses on three key challenges: improving the job market, use of human capital and resilience to natural disasters and other shocks, the World Bank said in a document last week.

The programme aims to improve government resilience, strengthen the energy market framework, promote energy efficiency, and reduce the country’s carbon footprint.

The loan is set to be approved on December 10, 2024, the World Bank added.

The First Resilience and Green Development programme, approved in March 2023 with an end-date of December 31, 2024, is backed by a $120 million loan, the World Bank has said. It supports renewable energy, resilience in the public sectors and households, adoption of earthquake insurance and strengthening of the social safety net, as well as environmental protection.

($ = 0.933 euro)