BoA: 78% of household budgets are spent on food, electricity, water and maintenance

“Around 78% of all household budgets in Albania are spent on food, fuel, energy, water and maintenance”. This is the finding of the Bank of Albania in a recent survey relating to inequality in consumption. The survey says that the expenses that Albanians make for other categories are considered as “luxury” for them. Here, experts mention “leisure”, saying that leisure accounts for only 3% of their total and as such, it is considered a luxury by consumers in this country.

On the other hand, experts of the Bank of Albania confirm the fact that private consumption has constantly risen, accounting for 80% of GDP in 2015. Meanwhile, according to this institution, “in periods of recession, as a result of growing uncertainty, consumer expenses do not only have a tendency to fall, but also to damage perspectives of recovery”. Meanwhile, the central banking institution argues that many studies which have been made, have found that in spite of the fact that during years of recession and crisis inequality of incomes have fallen, inequality in consumption has grown and this has led to a deterioration of the standards of living. And this seems to be reflected in the first half of the year in our country, when consumption slowed down due to the fact that consumers are more cautious with their expenses at a time of crisis.