TIRANA (Albania), May 24 (SeeNews) - The Council of the European Union has recommended to Albania to continue pursuing fiscal adjustment in order to reduce its public debt.

Should debt reduction miss its target, the government will need to introduce further fiscal consolidation measures, the Council said on Tuesday in a statement on the joint conclusions of the bloc's economic and financial dialogue with the Western Balkans and Turkey.

The Council encouraged Albania to go further with its recent revenue mobilisation efforts by strengthening tax administration, broadening the tax base and introducing a valuation-based property tax.

The statement described Albania's economy as "experiencing a gradual economic upturn" at present, with the trend expected to continue during the 2017-2019 programme period. Growth is expected to be driven mainly by private consumption and investments, as well as by improved labour market and low interest rates. However, the Council warned that there are risks to the downside to this growth projection stemming from persisting macroeconomic vulnerabilities and a renewed slide in oil prices.

"Structural obstacles to growth and competitiveness include still unclear land ownership, poor access to finance, a high level of informality and corruption, an excessive regulatory burden and unpredictability in the judiciary system, which acts as a discouragement to both foreign and domestic investment," the Council added.

The ratio of non-performing loans (NPLs) remains high (at 17.4% at end-March) despite the partial implementation of measures aimed at reducing them, such as introducing mandatory write-offs, the Council said and urged Albania to implement the remaining measures of the NPL resolution strategy.

Albania was also invited to fully unbundle the transmission and distribution activities in the electricity and gas sectors, establish a power exchange, continue to clarify ownership of agricultural land and create a functioning cadatsre and an e-cadastre by 2019.