Addressing the parliament over the general increase of prices and response through immediate measures, Ekonomi said that, “this is a war situation that is beyond our control, we can neither stop nor know how long it will last. “But the spillover effect of the war is reflected on the prices of energy, oil and groceries,” Ekonomi said.

Therefore, she added, “in mid-March, when INSTAT published the data showing inflation at 3.9%, it figured out that the prices of the staples had increased by 6.9% and transport costs had increased by 10.4%”.

Ekonomi said that “it is a fact that the government did not wait until this crisis hit the Albanian families and the most vulnerable part of society. It introduced promptly measures. Specifically, the government intervened in the price of fuel by freezing profit margins and providing transparency of profit margins for companies through the establishment of the National Fuel Management Board. The Normative Act with the immediate effect will also determine the framework of obligations of all those who are fuel distributors for a 2-month renewable period, according to the dynamics of the war.

“In Albania the oil price structure includes an extra rate that some countries do not apply. Therefore the price of oil here is higher, but we must bear in mind that small business pays zero taxes, VAT for small business is also zero. “Even the taxes on salaries are not as low as in our country, therefore the social and health contributions in the region are very small and affect the disposable income of families,” said Ekonomi.

/r.e/sm/