TIRANA, Nov 12 /ATA/ – Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Andis Salla, said on Wednesday that the Albanian government plans to allocate a record 16.3 billion lek to the agriculture sector in 2026, up 11.3% from this year.
“This is the largest budget in the sector’s history, nearly three times higher than in 2012,” Salla told members of the Parliamentary Committee on Agriculture.
Agriculture Minister underlined that spending will focus on domestic investment, rural development, national support schemes and food safety, which will see an 80% rise.
The proposed budget is based on four priorities: sustainable agriculture and rural development, fisheries and the blue economy, food safety, and innovation and digitalisation.
Salla said the Rural Development Programme, worth 7.7 billion lek, will make up nearly half the Ministry of Agriculture’s budget, while the National Support Scheme will receive 5.2 billion lek in grants and direct payments to farmers and agritourism.
A new measure will reimburse 10% VAT on invoiced farm inputs, returning about 1.5 billion lek to farmers annually.
“These steps build a new approach for farmers – invoice and benefit,” Salla told lawmakers.
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