A European country wants to give up cash, and to do it quickly

Albanians are reluctant to use the services of banks and prefer to pay in cash. It costs the state a lot of money. Therefore, the Prime Minister plans to create the first cashless company within a few years. Details today, August 6, reports Gazeta.Pl .

Albania aims to become the world's first cashless payment society by 2030, or at least that is the plan of Prime Minister Edi Rama. Rama wants to change this, primarily because many transactions are made cashless.

According to expert estimates, Albania's shadow economy accounts for between 29 and 50 percent of GDP. Rama faces a difficult task, since Albanians have been keeping money under the mattress for years, not in banks. Most of them prefer to dispose of them outside the banking system and, if possible, insist on cash payments. Moreover, in many places even cards are not accepted for payment.

Albania's center-left government plans to get rid of what the report says The EU for 2024 has been called a "vast informal economy" that hinders business activity and negatively affects competition, not to mention reducing tax revenues.

"The elimination of cash is an absolute priority in countries with a low level of formalization and so much illegal money in the financial system that it is destabilized," says Selami Jepa, professor of economics at the University of Tirana.

Secretary General of the Association of Banks of Albania Spiro Brumbulli told POLITICO that the government and banking institutions will develop a plan for the transition to cashless payments. There will be limits on purchases paid for in cash, and the payment system will be integrated with the EU SEPA complex by October. Soon after, instant payments using this system will be introduced in the country.