The pandemic caused by COVID-19 has severely hit the Albanian economy resulting in limited to no income generation opportunities for the businesses of the tourism, agriculture and other sectors, such as retail and manufacturing.
Especially micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME), which are the backbone of the Albanian economy, are affected by the impacts of the crisis. 95% of the 160.000 businesses have on average not more than 10 employees. These businesses are very vulnerable to economic shocks and usually have only limited means to overcome the crisis, especially when their business activities are at least partly suspended.