Malaj said the 886.7 billion lek budget maintains a balance between fiscal stability and support for the country’s social and economic development. Planned spending equals 31.9% of GDP, up by about 55 billion lek from 2025, while revenues are projected at 823.1 billion lek, or 29.6% of GDP.

A key element of the budget is a pension reform to be implemented from January 2026 through 2030, with an annual cost of 10.4 billion lek.

The minimum monthly wage will rise by 10,000 lek to 50,000 lek from January 1, 2026, covering around 308,000 workers in both the public and private sectors. The government aims to raise it to 70,000 lek by the end of its term.

Malaj said the budget also provides for periodic wage indexation in the public administration and differentiated pay increases for more than 144,000 public employees, at a cost of about 10 billion lek.

Finance Minister said Albanian economy is projected to grow 4% in 2026, unemployment expected to fall to 8.5% and inflation to 2.2%. The budget deficit is expected to narrow to 2.3% of GDP, with public debt falling to 53.6%.

Malaj said no tax increases are planned for 2026. The fiscal package includes relief measures for businesses and farmers, such as a 10% VAT refund for agricultural producers and a 5% revaluation rate for real estate assets.

Public investment is set to reach 179.6 billion lek, or 6.5% of GDP, focusing on infrastructure, renewable energy, digitalization and projects aligned with the European Union’s Growth Plan.

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Minister of Finance and Economy Delina Ibrahimaj stated today after the government meeting that the delay in the distribution of the pay rise for the months of April and May came because of the instruction that had to be drawn up for over 200 central and local institutions.

Ibrahimaj rejected any claims that the numbers were not calculated properly and that the scheme is being reviewed. She emphasized that the delay was due to the limited time, since the law entered into force only 2 weeks ago and that making a fair copy and implementation of the government decision required its own time.

“There is no change in the coefficients determined for the pay rise and for the entry into force, the budget is the same, while the salaries will increase in the first two steps during this month, and the rest next year. In order not to create delays in the distribution of salaries to citizens, we took a decision to continue with salaries before the month of April. Within this month, every citizen will receive the pay rise for the months of April and May. The instruction will also determine the way of calculating the income tax in order not to penalize anyone”, concluded the minister./r.e/p.s./