TIRANA, April 28 /ATA/-By Maela Marini/ Prime Minister Edi Rama assured that “our pension plan is the only solution that gives more to pensioners and enables families to earn more tomorrow.”
In a conversation with residents of the former Autotractor Factory area (Tirana), where the project for its revitalization in support of the military industry was launched, Rama focused on the issue of pensions.
The Prime Minister stressed that “we are now more optimistic about the gradual increase of the minimum pension, which is expected to reach 200 euros by the end of the fourth term.”
“Anyone who tells you it will happen right away is saying the same old story they told you when you invested your money in pyramid schemes. Taking such a step—taking the money and reallocating it without knowing how you’ll generate it again is tantamount to this,” said Rama.
The Prime Minister stated that the aim is a 400-euro average pension based on contributions, while the minimum pension will be raised through budget funding.
“We will do both: relieve the burden on pensioners and ensure the economy has the capacity to distribute more. Pensioners should never be concerned when salaries rise, because with every salary increase, the pension fund grows as well. This is in the very DNA of our political force, and we are serious about it—not to mock or harness votes, but to make the burden on pensioners as light as possible,” added Rama.
Rama highlighted that he has always believed pensioners are the most under-rewarded group in our society.
“Indeed, this is so true that right after we took office, one of the first things I pushed for was pension reform. Today, there are two categories of pensioners: one group, consisting of around 220-230 thousand people, receives higher pensions, while the other group receives lower ones. This outcome is a direct result of that reform,” said Rama.
Rama recalled that when the Socialist Party took office, pensioners lived in dire conditions, with pensions limited by a ceiling and effectively reduced to social assistance.
“All the factories and plants were closed, leaving people out of work, and the country’s industrial base was completely wiped out—something that still operates in other countries in the region. Serbia, for example, still has military industrial capabilities based on its old military infrastructure, which they didn’t scrap. Here, however, all that chaos took place; people as young as 40 were forced into retirement, creating a large group of individuals who, instead of pensions, received just assistance of up to 24,000 lek,” said Rama.
Meanwhile, the Prime Minister emphasized that the Socialist Party implemented a pension reform and placed social security contributions at the core of the entire system.
Rama argued that using investment funds to raise pensions would have created an unsustainable system, comparing it to a pyramid scheme, and stressed that only investments can generate long-term economic returns.
“This is not what we want. Everything we are doing is aimed at growing the economy. We distributed two bonuses to pensioners—160 million euros over a three-month period—and for a country like Albania, that is a significant amount,” added Rama.
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