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Democratic Party MP Jorida Tabaku has commented on the 2025 draft budget.
She states that, just like the 11 budgets of the past years, this one of 2025 is also focused on a few hands, favoring the privileged few.
"The 2025 budget is not the budget of 95% of Albanians. It is another socialist budget, in the service of 5% of the privileged, just like the 11 past budgets that have concentrated the economy in a few hands" , said Tabaku.
She emphasized that the budget should not have meaningless fiscal exceptions. The MP adds that it should be distributed in priority sectors such as education and health.
"We must establish rules for a fair taxation on work and businesses, which support entrepreneurs and innovative ideas, not subsidize the departure of Albanians. Second, agriculture should be subsidized and supported by policies that promote production and rural development, not hindered by unfair taxes. Thirdly, the budget should be distributed in priority sectors such as education, so that the youth is prepared for the labor market and health, so that Albanians do not face tragic cases due to the lack of health security", says Tabaku.
Tabak's full statement:
From 2013 until today, 12 socialist budgets have been approved. What has happened during these years with the Albanian economy and with the finances of the most important groups of Albanians? Let's start with the pensioners, continue with the youth, the middle class, the freelancers and finish with agriculture.
Today we have an economic model concentrated in a few hands. Two hundred businesses benefit from almost all of the country's economic income. This economic model favors only 5% of Albanians, who benefit from tax reductions, facilities and funds from the state budget, while 95% of citizens bear the cost of price increases, high taxes and unfair distribution of the budget.
Let's analyze them in turn. According to INSTAT, prices have increased by 55%. What about pensions? Have they increased by the same percentage? Are retirees better off or worse off today? While they pay prices similar to those of European Union countries, they receive the lowest pensions in the region and certainly much lower than in the EU. The purchasing power of Albanian pensioners is only 40%. In fact, Albanians spend 40% of their income on food alone.
During these years, fiscal policies have been changed 180 times, but has there been any fiscal change in favor of the middle class? On the contrary, laws have been passed that have directly harmed this layer. Have we seen any fiscal policies that support youth and stop them from leaving? The youth, who make up 40% of the active labor force, have left the country. What about agriculture? Or for the needy? The answer is very simple: No!
We may have different political or ideological opinions. Some are right-wing, some left-wing, others with no clear party affiliation, but the economy affects us all the same. The economic cost weighs heavily on everyone's pockets.
Today, Albania faces several emergencies for which the state budget does not offer a solution. We have a pronounced lack of labor force and problems with the distribution of economic growth in all sectors. Albania has great untapped potential, especially in agriculture, where 450,000 Albanians live in the countryside, but only 75,000 of them are officially insured and employed. Who is responsible for this situation? Who bears responsibility for the youth who are leaving, for the pensioners who live in difficult conditions, for the middle class who is overtaxed?
The culprit for this situation is the socialist budget, which offers nothing for Albanians. This is an economic model that has concentrated income in a few hands, that has left strategic sectors such as agriculture and industry in decline, and that hinders development. It is a model that does not respond to the demands of the market, but aims to enrich a small group of people.
First, the budget should not have meaningless fiscal exceptions. We need to establish rules for a fair taxation on work and businesses, that support entrepreneurs and innovative ideas, not subsidize the departure of Albanians. Second, agriculture should be subsidized and supported by policies that promote production and rural development, not hindered by unfair taxes. Thirdly, the budget should be distributed in priority sectors such as education, so that the youth is prepared for the labor market, and health, so that Albanians do not face tragic cases due to the lack of health security.
The 2025 budget is not the budget of 95% of Albanians. It is another socialist budget, in the service of the privileged 5%, just like the 11 past budgets that have concentrated the economy in a few hands. This pattern must change. Albania needs a new economic model that offers equal opportunities and supports all citizens, not just a minority.
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