By Kerin Hope in Athens
Published: May 14 2009

Albania appears an unlikely bright spot on Europe's gloomy economic
map, with international institutions still forecasting positive growth
of about 1.2 per cent this year, writes Kerin Hope in Athens.
While its cash-strapped Balkan neighbours seek emergency finance
from the International Monetary Fund, Europe's secondpoorest country,
after Moldova, secured a €250m ($340m, £224m) medium-term commercial
loan last month, arranged by Deutsche Bank and Alpha Bank of Greece.
The funding allows the right-of-centre government of Sali Berisha,
prime minister, to complete an upgrade of the main highway to Kosovo -
a key infrastructure project.
More... Positive growth forecast for Albania