Anila Denaj (born 18 September 1973) is an

Albania Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares ...

n politician who served as the country's Minister of Finance and Economy from January 2019 until her suspension in September 2021.

Early life and education

Denaj was born in

Tirana Tirana ( , ; aln, Tirona) is the capital and largest city of Albania. It is located in the centre of the country, enclosed by mountains and hills with Dajti rising to the east and a slight valley to the northwest overlooking the Adriatic Sea ...

and graduated from the Tirana University with a degree in Financial and Banking Management in 1995.

Career

Denaj worked at

ProCredit Bank The ProCredit Bank Deutschland is a bank based in Frankfurt am Main. It is the youngest bank of the ProCredit Holding, which operates primarily in Southeastern and Eastern Europe as well as in South America and wants to make a contribution to sus ...

s in El Salvador, Bolivia, Ecuador, Romania and Mozambique. In October 2013, she became General Director of the Albanian Ministry of Finance. She has lectured in human resources management at the Public Administration School since 2014. Denaj was appointed General Director of the Albanian Compulsory Health Care Security Fund in October 2018. Three months later, she was appointed Minister of Finance and Economy in a

cabinet reshuffle A cabinet reshuffle or shuffle occurs when a head of government rotates or changes the composition of ministers in their cabinet, or when the Head of State changes the head of government and a number of ministers. They are more common in parlia ...

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

Edi Rama Edi Rama (born Edvin Kristaq Rama, 4 July 1964) is an Albanian politician, painter, writer, former university lecturer, publicist and former basketball player, who has served as the 33rd and current Prime Minister of Albania since 2013 and chairm ...

, replacing

Arben Ahmetaj Arben Ahmetaj (born 28 June 1969 in Gjirokastër) is an Albanian politician who served as the Deputy Prime Minister of Albania from 2021 to 2022. Since 2013 previously has served in several important departments such as: Minister of Economic Dev ...

. In 2020, she introduced a number of measures aiming to assist the country's economy recover from the "two severe shocks" of the

2019 Albania earthquake Northwestern Albania was struck by a magnitude 6.4 earthquake with an epicentre 16 kilometres (9.9 mi) west-southwest of Mamurras, at 03:54 CET (UTC+1) on 26 November 2019. The earthquake lasted at least 50 seconds and was felt in Alb ...

and the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. In addition to her role in government, Denaj was a member of the

World Bank Group The World Bank Group (WBG) is a family of five international organizations that make leveraged loans to developing countries. It is the largest and best-known development bank in the world and an observer at the United Nations Development Grou ...

’s (WBG) Advisory Council on Gender and Development.

Other activities

European Bank for Reconstruction and Development The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is an international financial institution founded in 1991. As a multilateral developmental investment bank, the EBRD uses investment as a tool to build market economies. Initially focus ...

(EBRD), Ex-Officio Member of the Board of Governors (2019–2021) *

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects. The World Bank is the collective name for the Interna ...

, Ex-Officio Member of the Board of Governors (2019–2021)Board of Governors

Personal life

Denaj has one son.

References

{{Albania-gov-stub Living people 1973 births University of Tirana alumni Government ministers of Albania Women government ministers of Albania Finance ministers of Albania Female finance ministers 21st-century Albanian women politicians 21st-century Albanian politicians