The strategy outlines detailed reforms and tax policies, well management of tax and custom to deliver on a 2.5% increase in tax revenue collections as a share of the GDP in the coming four years.

The key tax and administrative reforms included in the Medium-Term Revenue Strategy have been drafted through assistance of the International Monetary Fund, based on the European Union directives, taxation policies and customs management.

According to the Strategy, the tax revenue collections will be generated by the increase in revenues from fiscal policies by about 0.33% of GDP, the increase in revenues from good tax administration, with 1.96% of GDP and increased revenue from good customs administration, with 0.17% of GDP.

The strategy proposes a revision of the taxation and tax policies on consumption, as well as property tax rates.

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Addressing a meeting with his cabinet members and tourism sector representatives to discuss measures aimed at a successful new tourist season, PM Rama focused on projections of tourism growth and increase in number of foreign tourists who choose Albania as a destination to visit.

The government head cited official data, showing the significant surge in number of foreign visitors.

“Taking notice of the current growth trend, it is not an exaggeration to think that we may deliver on the 20 million visitors target long before 2030,” PM Rama stated in his remarks.

“I recall a meeting with tour operators in Durres a few years ago, with them saying they were satisfied that the number of foreign arrivals had increased to 5 million. I told them not to be surprised if the number of foreign visitors will grow to 10 million in just five years. Many had all the reasons to question it, but this projection was based on factual data analysis and science-based trend projections,” PM Rama said.

The Premier said that number of foreign visitors to Albania may grow to around 30 million by 2030, adding that the demand growth projections should be met with a constantly expanding offer.

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“Albania’s economy has shown considerable resilience against successive shocks during the period 2019-2022, starting with the earthquake, the pandemic and the invasion of Ukraine by Russia. A key factor in Albania’s stability is estimated to be its proximity to the European Union, which facilitates investments, remittances and exports. Construction and tourism are valued as key catalysts of economic growth,” the WB report reads.

Meanwhile, employment increased by 4.4% in the first quarter of 2023.

The WB predicts that the economic growth will be 3.6% in 2023, based on the international financial conditions, as well. The public debt is expected to decrease to the level of 63.1% of GDP in 2023 and is projected to decrease even more in the medium term, as a result of the high nominal growth and the gradual reduction of the fiscal deficit, the World Bank predicts in the latest report./p.s./

In a post on social media, Rama published photos from the staff at the Socialist Party headquarters, which analyzes the data in real time, while considering the opposition representatives as fortune-tellers who predict victories in the stands by Turkish coffee reading.

“LIVE SP Headquarters – Super team that organizes polls, studies numbers, analyzes turn-out trends, follows field data in real time and projects results with impressive accuracy based on scientific algorithms,” Rama wrote on social media.

“While others announce victories in the stands, seeing the Turkish coffee cup of their wishes, and then when the results come out, they continue the same old story on TV screens when in despair point at the regime, which suddenly robbed them of the imaginary victory with the claws of crime”, emphasized Rama. /gj.m/p.s./

With polls for the local elections officially closed, the government head took to the social media to post the SP projections about the election results.

According to him, the opposition is poised to win zero to 11 municipalities.

During the election campaign, PM Rama had voiced confidence that SP will win 50 municipalities in the Sunday’s mayoral elections.

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“It is our goal to win 45 to 55 municipalities, given the political situation in the country, the findings of polls, and the input from our electoral structures and the opposition’s current state,” the senior Socialist official Damian Gjiknuri said in a televised interview.

According to him, the ruling Socialists are expected to retain same number of votes it received in the 2021 general elections and SP will remain a leading party in the next political elections too.

“It could be 47% of votes in total again, but it is our goal to reach the target I already mentioned regarding the number of the municipalities we expect to win,” he said.

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Speaking at a press conference on the monetary policy decision by the Bank’s Supervisory Council, Sejko said  that “growth rates will however decelerate compared to the first quarter of year, but will nevertheless be sufficient to preserve the Albanian enterprises and households’ balance sheets.”

Sejko underlined the performance of the economy remains subject to serious challenges.

“The combined effect of elevated prices in international markets, the tightening financial conditions, and the expected economic slowdown in the Euro Area, coupled with lower household purchasing power, is expected to weigh in opposite directions on economic growth and inflation rates in Albania,” he said.

Sejko said that according to INSTAT data, Albania’s GDP rose almost 6% in the first quarter of 2022.

“This growth rate outturn was on the upper levels of our expectations and reflected higher consumption, private investments and exports of goods and services. On the other hand, lower public investments and higher imports have contributed negatively to growth,” central bank governor said.

Sejko underlined that higher demand for goods and services was reflected into a further expansion of employment and wages in the first quarter, providing an additional factor to the accelerating inflation rate.

“According to official data, unemployment fell to 11.3% in 2022 Q1, while wages in the private sector expanded by 10.5%. While administrative measures undertaken to increase formalisation in the labour market have positively impacted the evolution of wages, the fast wage growth rate suggests that labour force shortages in the market are exerting increasing pressures on production costs in Albania,” he concluded.

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