The chairman of the Freedom Party, Ilir Meta, held a press conference earlier this Monday, whose focus was inflation and price hikes.

Meta said that more social support from the government is needed for the poorest categories because, on a second level, the price crisis and inflation could cause greater effects such as social unrest.

“The increase in the cost of living has begun to negatively affect confidence and domestic demand, with inflation reaching the highest levels in two decades in recent months and at the same time it’s being driven, especially by food and energy prices. Food prices are higher throughout the region and close to prices in the European Union. Further increases in food and energy prices are a key risk, especially if they cause larger second-order effects as well as social unrest. Higher and more persistent inflation could further weigh on real incomes and weaken growth prospects. It clearly shows that the latest handout presented as a bogus package is nothing more than an attempt to lie and manipulate those categories that have been more severely hit by the policies of the ‘Renaissance’ administration, especially at a time when it is clear that most of the 500 million euros collected from the increase in prices go directly to the government’s customers”, said Meta.