Innovations of the 2024 budget/ The cost of justice reaches 250 million euros, double from 2016

2023-11-06 20:42:00, Ekonomi CNA

Innovations of the 2024 budget/ The cost of justice reaches 250 million euros,

The draft budget 2024 sets a new level regarding the planning of public expenditures, which amount to about 736 billion ALL, supporting further economic development, promoting employment and social protection, as well as continuing at the same time with fiscal consolidation, said today before the deputies in the Economy and Finance Committee, Minister Ervin Mete.

Two of the innovations are the increase in costs for the justice system from 13 billion ALL in 2016 to 26.2 billion ALL (250 million euros) in 2024.

Mete said that budget revenues in relation to GDP for the period 2024-2026 are expected to average 27.8% of GDP. This increase is mainly based on the improvement of fiscal administration, expanding the tax base with the aim of minimizing informality and tax evasion.

According to him, the draft budget continues the support for a significant increase in salaries, making it possible to achieve the objective set to reach an average salary level of 900 euros per month within the year 2024.

The draft budget envisages further salary increases for general practitioners, nurses and other health workers, teachers in pre-university education, law enforcement, defense and enforcement levels of central and local administration. In total, the overall effect on the budget for the financing of this major reform in the salary system amounts to ALL 39 billion.

The indexation of pensions is also financed, which in the last two years reached the figure of about 25 billion ALL. Support for social protection and the needy strata follows, allocating about 33.4% of the general public expenditure for the pension scheme, economic assistance, disability payment, unemployment payment, social assistance, ex-persecuted, ex-owners, bonus of baby, etc., said the Minister of Finance.

2016-2024, funds for justice are doubled

Mete said that the draft budget of 2024 foresees about 26.2 billion lek for justice, or 13.5 billion lek more than the budget of 2016. Even compared to 2023, the projected budget for the justice sector increases significantly, with 4.2 billion lek more. These figures reflect the financial support for the establishment and operation of new institutions of justice reform, which include the institutions of Vetting, the Special Structure against Corruption and Organized Crime, the High Council of Justice, the reform of the institutions of the prosecution system and the judicial system, the High Inspectorate of Justice, the School of Magistrates, as well as the reform of other institutions under the Ministry of Justice.

The requests of justice institutions for reallocation of funds, which were used for the optimization of working conditions, as well as for information technology systems, were also continuously supported.

In a more detailed look at the draft budget for this sector, it turns out that:

Personnel expenses for employees of the justice system are expected to be 16 billion ALL, or 9 billion ALL more than in 2016. The significant increase of the fund over the years reflects not only the increase in the number of human resources, but also the increase in salaries for employees of these institutions.

For the year 2024, personnel expenses for all institutions of the justice system have increased by 3.1 billion lek, compared to the initial budget for 2023. This increase is dedicated to the financial effect of the salary reform launched in 2023. From this fund 1.4 billion ALL have been allocated only for magistrates.

Operating and maintenance expenses in 2024 are predicted at 8 billion ALL, or twice as much as in 2016. These expenses have addressed the needs of all institutions to ensure the optimal realization of their functional activity.

Investment expenses in 2024 are expected to be around ALL 2.3 billion.

New public investment projects that are financed in the 2024 draft budget are:

For SPAK, new infrastructural projects and technological equipment are supported with 550 million ALL, which are expected to be implemented in 2024-2025;

Implementation and Improvement of the electronic notarial registry system, worth about 234 million ALL;

Investments to improve infrastructure in forensic medicine and toxicology laboratory;

Financing for the improvement of the infrastructure of the Constitutional Court and the Tirana Prosecutor's Office;

Reconstruction of the Constitutional Court, worth 20 million ALL;

Digital Archive for the High Council of Prosecution;

Meanwhile, the budget support for the construction of the institution for the education and rehabilitation of minors continues with 632 million ALL for 2024.

Referring to the budget forecasts for other independent constitutional institutions, we have tried to accommodate most of the requests, first ensuring the full funding of the salary reform and further the additional needs presented during the discussions for the preparation of the Medium-Term Budget Program 2024-2026 ./ Monitor magazine