“The economic situation in Albania is not as gloomy as the media report.” This assessment was made on Wednesday by Deputy Minister of Finances Irena Beqiraj during the presentation of the fiscal indicators for the first quarter of 2015. Besides aiming at inducing a dosage of optimism to the life of Albanian citizens, by inviting them to see the light at the end of the tunnel, Beqiraj unveiled important data on the situation of key sectors of Albanian economy.
At first she highlighted that an increase on domestic production was marked during Q1 2015, while some data from customs show a decrease in the sector.“We cannot say that customs are flourishing, there is always room for improvement,” Beqiraj clarified.
“We cannot say that customs are flourishing, there is always room for improvement,” Beqiraj clarified.
Moreover, speaking about the fight against corruption in customs Beqiraj said that only for 2015 eight lawsuits against custom officers allegedly involved in smuggling have been filed at the prosecution.
The Deputy Minister of Finances said that the state budget can be revised in June or September due to a loss of Lek 6 billion, mainly caused by the effect of the value added tax (VAT) on oil. During the first quarter of 2015, the total income was Lek 2.6 billion less than the plan.
According to Beqiraj, the tobacco import has fallen approximately 32 tons due to the increase of domestic product, while the smoking ban and the hike of excise tax for this product had their effects. Meanwhile, Beqiraj stated that inherited debts by the previous government remain a problem.
News/ Photo Source: Local Media, Ministry of Finances
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