Conference on the Municipal Performance Measurement System/ Minister Demo presents the main findings

2025-11-25 11:32:00, Aktualitet CNA

Conference on the Municipal Performance Measurement System/ Minister Demo

The Minister of Local Government, Ervin Demo, delivered his speech at the conference on the Municipal Performance Measurement System, where he also presented the main findings. The Minister stated that Albanian municipalities have made progress in financial management, public services and good governance, approaching European standards, according to him.

Demo stated that the municipalities' own-source revenues have increased. He added that this is an indicator of more efficient local administration.

"Revenues from municipalities' own sources have reached 44.4 billion lek in 2024, tripling compared to 2015. Revenues from property taxes have increased by 84.6%, from 3.9 billion lek in 2015 to 7.2 billion lek in 2024," Demo said.

The Minister underlined that the municipalities' arrears have been reduced from 12 billion lek in 2015 to only 3.1 billion lek in 2024, describing this as an important step towards fiscal discipline and sound financial management.

In the field of public services, Demo highlighted progress in the preschool education, irrigation-drainage and waste management sectors.

“The cost coverage of waste services increased from 68% in 2023 to 83% in 2024, while the child-teacher ratio in kindergartens and nurseries is approaching the EU average ,” he said.

Speaking about the Performance-Based Grant, Demo described it as a transformative instrument for local government.

"Today, all 61 municipalities in the country are equipped with strategic planning documents and ready for European fund projects. This mechanism is not just funding, but a real European exercise ," the minister added.

Demo also announced the launch of cooperation with INSTAT and other institutions to establish an integrated local data system, which will serve as a basis for decision-making and performance measurement over the years.

"The first step of a major objective. For data-based decision-making. This decision-making is not only related to performance, but also when we talk about a multi-institutional approach," said Demo./CNA