What does in fact Article IV imply?
The Article IV Consultation, which is done every or every other year, is at the heart of our surveillance activities, where we provide an assessment of economic and financial developments, and advise on risks to stability and growth and if policy adjustments are warranted. The Article IV Staff Reports can be found, together with our other country reports, at our website at www.imf.org. On your press statement, you said that it was expected that this would be Albanias last PRGF arrangement, an IMF lending facility designed for low-income countries. Does this mean that Albania is not any more listed under low-income countries, or incapable to take its own decisions? At an estimated per capita income of significantly above US$3,000 this year, Albania is no longer considered a low-income country but is rather rapidly transitioning toward an emerging market status. Our PRGF arrangement is aimed at the poorest countries and it is now time for Albania to graduate from this type of arrangement
