TIRANA, March 15 /ATA/- The govt. has increased economic assistance for the needy strata disbursing a budget of ALL 4.8 bn or 10 bn more than the opposition did in govt..
Minister of Finance, Arben Ahmetaj, in his address to parliament which is embroiled in a heated debate on economic assistance reform said that govt. in place has launched a set of reforms tailored to the real needs of poor stratum.
The govt. has allocated roughly USD 118 mln in support of the poor, ALL 6.8 bn in reimbursement for minimum incomes, USD 1.6 mln and ALL 3.7 bn in reimbursement for energy expenses.
The employment encouragement policies, according to National Business Centre, have resulted in over 350 registered start-ups and 13.4 percent drop in employment compared to 17.6 percent at the time you were in govt.
Focusing on the new model of economic assistance, the minister said that the opposition has come today to debate a standard it has developed years ago.
This is a standard that you have approved 7 years ago and this debate is politically motivated, because the opposition has no cause or strategy with its embattled head involved in corruption.
Ahmetaj said that economic assistance should not be conceptualized as a salvation but as a transitory benefit in order for these families living on state welfare to be employed as soon as possible.
Concerning the debate on the figures of those cut off from the scheme and those included in economic assistance, Ahmetaj said that the new scheme is based on transparency and scoring system. The scoring system is not carried out by people involved with politics, it is based on real data.
For the record, Ahmetaj said, World Banks says that the system has improved the approach to addressing the needs of poor families. Hence, your political rhetoric is utterly out of context, it is intended to use the poor to your advantage.
Furthermore, Ahmetaj said that the govt. has granted a fund which has increased by 6 percent to support the families that have been disqualified by the scoring system.
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