TIRANA March 12 /ATA/- Minister of Finance and Economy, Arben Ahmetaj, was in Korça on Sunday, where he had a meeting with a group of farmers in Maliq about the pension scheme in the village.
The minister announced that a working group at his ministry is working out a set of amendments compelling the self-employed in agriculture to pay minimum contribution, yet allowing them to contribute more than the legal minimum contributions at national scale if they want to qualify for a higher pension.
In his remarks, Ahmetaj said that back in 2014 the govt. launched a thorough reform in pension scheme, achieving a breakthrough for the first time in more than 30 years by introducing the social pension of roughly ALL 8 thousand per month for those that have not paid insurance.
It is an initiative of PM to support as part of the pension reform the stratum of population that has not paid contributions, augmenting the daily subsistence in the elderly age. Of course, that amounts falls far from everyone’s expectations, however it is a direct contribution from the state budget for non-contributors.
The minister added that the pension scheme and voluntary contribution in the village does not live up to the target. To that end, Ahmetaj said, the Ministry of Finance will launch an awareness campaign all across the territory of Albania, to bring to attention that if the citizens fails to contribute to social insurance scheme, they can qualify for social pension, once they reach the eligibility age, yet it falls short of their expectations. The contribution that you pay is not a tax, it is in the form a deposit that will be returned to you at the retirement age.
Ahmetaj added that contribution to the pension scheme is important for the farmers who want to access the agricultural subsidy scheme.
/a.gjonaj/ /a.g/sm/
