Economy expert, Eduard Gjokutaj told Euronews Albania that the Government should reflect upon the current state of things and consult the opposition, experts as well as representatives from the business sector, in order to reformulate the 2022 state budget.
According to Gjokutaj, this initiative should be the number one priority seeing that the current rise in prices includes products from the basic food basket, which means they will directly affect the most vulnerable consumers.
“The opposition should exert their influence because they’re in Parliament, where all the new policies begin to be generated before getting applied on the ground,” – said the expert.
The rise in the public debt reaching up to 80% by the end of the year, at a time when reforms which started 8 years ago are still incomplete, only adds to the burden needed to be carried by the general public and future generations, argued the economy expert.
In addition, he told Euronews Albania that the further rise in public debt, dictated by the energy crisis, doesn’t stimulate the economy because it leads to a reduction in spending for public necessities from the construction of schools all the way to social assistance.
Gjokutaj called the tendency to mark up the price of energy for medium and big business unjustified, because its effects, according to the expert, will be felt the same as they did during the crisis driven by the pandemic.
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