Budget revenues grew with 3.5%, but that’s less than planned

17/07/2019 17:24

State budget revenues increased with 3.5% in the first half of this year, but they were 30 million less compared to the plan.

Official data from the Ministry of Finances show that the government has collected 225.4 billion ALL for the first six months. It is higher than the 217 billion ALL that were collected last year, but the government’s plan was 229 billion.

VAT remains the weakest source, bringing home 50 million EUR less than predicted. This tax is collected from the circulation of goods within an economy. The low performance shows a slowdown of consumption, or higher informality.

A few days ago, the government fired the General Tax Director, Enton Duro, replacing him with Delina Ibrahimaj. When introducing her, PM Rama criticized the job of the Tax Office and warned that there would be a new campaign against informality.

This is the second consequent year that sees budget revenues grow with a slow pace. This has forced the government to cut the spending and lower investments even in priority sectors, such as health and education.

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