State Budget Increased Revenue by 3.5% in First Half of 2019

TIRANA, July 24

The state budget increased the income by 3.5% from January-June 2019 but compared to the planning they were €30 million less. Official data by the Ministry of Finance, show that in the period January-June 2019, the government collected Lek225.4 billion, from Lek217 billion that was collected in the same period of 2018. But the state government planned to collect more than Lek229 billion.

The worst performance was registered regarding the income that came by the value-added tax. In the first 6 months of 2019, the government collected Lek6 billion, or €50 million less value-added tax, compared to the planning in the beginning. The low income of value-added tax (or T.V.SH. in Albanian) signals for a poor performance in the economy and rise of informality.

More than a week ago, the government fired the general director of taxation, Enton Duro substituting him with Delina Ibrahimaj. During the presentation of the new director, Prime Minister Edi Rama criticized the poor work done on taxation and warned for a new campaign against the informality.

This is the second year in a row, that the income of the government budget was increased with very little rates, only 2 or 3 %. On the other hand, this poor performance has caused the government to lower investments in the important sectors of the economy, such as: education and health.

Source/ Top Channel.tv

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