Budget 2025/ Economic expert, Ceko: It does not bring economic growth

2024-12-05 17:15:00, Aktualitet CNA

Budget 2025/ Economic expert, Ceko: It does not bring economic growth

Economy expert, Enriko Ceko

The budget for 2025 has fueled debate between the majority and the opposition. The DP filed dozens of amendments, which were rejected by the SP, calling them suggestions that are not suitable for economic growth.

But who does this budget affect the most?

In an interview for CNA TV, the economic expert, Enriko Ceko, said that for several years, money has been borrowed from international countries for the state budget.

According to him, a good part of Albanians, mainly those in rural areas, do not pay taxes and that if they were included in the system, it would not be necessary to borrow money to meet the needs of the state budget.

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"This is the first budget that has reached the figure of 8.2 billion euros in expenses, but it is a budget that in several consecutive years is supported by receiving international debt of 600 or 700 million euros. This means that you turn on the oven to bake the loaves, put in 80 loaves and you want to take out 100 loaves, this cannot be done. So collect 7.6 billion euros from taxes and you will spend 8.2 billion euros, taking on 600 or 700 billion in debt. The issue is where the money that forms the State Budget comes from and who gets the money that is spent from this budget?

In general, this money comes from taxes, a part comes from the tax that is taken from big companies, while they make up only 1% of all businesses in Albania and pay 30% of the State Budget. A part is also taken from the personal income tax that "hits" the middle class.

If we look at who benefits, there are 350,000 farms in the village, about 50 or 60,000 farms have received a registration number and are supposed to pay taxes. In other words, we have 300,000 farms with 4 people in the family, making 1,200,000 inhabitants, who do not pay taxes, but who benefit from the budget because they build roads, schools and investments from which they benefit. We pay, they don't and in the end we are treated the same", emphasized the expert.

Asked why they are not included in the tax payment scheme, Ceko said that the political force that will include them will lose the elections.

Economy expert, Enriko Ceko

"Because politics wants their votes. The first political force that will introduce taxes in agriculture will be the force that will lose the elections. The 2025 budget is focused on the Tirana-Durres segment, 50-60% goes to public administration salary payments, goes to the pension scheme and social assistance. This is not a budget that helps the economy develop. For the economy to develop, 80% of the budget should go to economic activity.

The state budget should go with the focus: Strong state, wealthy citizens. This should be the philosophy of Albania in the next 25-30 years. But we don't have these. Neither the state is strong nor the citizens are rich", he stressed.

According to Ceko, even the right-wingers do not make real proposals.

"They make a lot of noise. They are unorganized people, without a leader, without a philosophy. They say more money for agriculture, more for education, more for health but without specifying for what. Agriculture is a big "pocket".

In a state budget of 8 billion, education should receive 1 billion, health 1 billion, defense and diplomacy as well. We have neither defense, nor diplomacy, nor health", underlined the economic expert./ CNA