TIRANA, Nov 16 /ATA/ Minister of Finance and Economy, Delina Ibrahimaj, engaged on Tuesday in a debate with the opposition in parliament where the discussion of the 2022 draft budget is going on for two days now.
Responding to the opposition’s accusations about public debt, Minister Ibrahimaj said that the debt taken by this government has translated into economic growth and public investment, unlike what happened under the DP- led government.
“In order for the debt to be healthy, it must be translated into economic growth and the ratio of economic growth to deficit must be above 1. Back in 2013 when the current opposition was in power this indicator dropped to 0.3. So the debt owed by you at that time did not translate into economic growth. Economic growth dropped to 1% back then,” said Ibrahimaj.
According to her, it took two years to reduce the deficit and debt, by consolidating public finances and showing the sustainability of economic policies that have brought about development.
“This is reflected not only in economic growth, but also in reduction of unemployment rate, the increase of salaries and the welfare of the citizen. The budget and economic policies introduced by this government have been endorsed by every international financial institution both for its efficiency and for the time of decision-making, ” the Minister said.
The Albanian government intends to reduce by 1 percentage point the level of public debt in 2022. Gross public debt will return to a downward trajectory starting from 2022, in accordance with the fiscal rule, to fall to about 78.9% of GDP from about 80% anticipated for this year.
Under the baseline scenario, public debt is expected to drop to around 74.9% in 2025 and further to around 67.9% in 2028.
Meanwhile, in terms of debt interest expenses, during 2022 they are expected to increase by about 20%, mainly due to the significant increase in the debt stock in nominal value during 2021.
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