Debts without Parliament approval, Committee approves government draft
22/12/2014 00:00
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The Commission of Economy passed a controversial law that allows the
Minister of Finances and the government to take debts without being
forced to request an approval by the Parliament.
“The private creditor for public investments will be chosen through a decision of the Council of Ministers. The Minister of Finances negotiates for the basic conditions of the loan agreements on behalf of the Republic of Albania or the Council of Ministers”, Brace declared.
The draft caused discussions about its respectability to the Constitution. Article 121 of the law foresees that international agreement for loans are made through the Parliament. The Commission of Economy asked help from the Commission of Laws regarding this stalemate.
Blerina Gjylameti, MP of the Socialist Party, declared that the Commission of Laws approved the draft-law through the argument of article 121/3 which says that there agreements that are not ratified by the Parliament, but the Parliament simply plays a supervisory role.
The draft allows the government to negotiate foreign loans within the limits that are decided by the parliamentary budget each year. The Commission approved an article that tries to increase the Parliament’s control on this indicator.
“The Minister of Finances cannot take more loans than the limit decided by the Parliament. If the budget limit have to be passed, it will be crossed only through the Parliament”, Brace declared.
The Committee approved the laws for public procurements, which allows tenders with only one bidder and foresees punishments for public institutions that sign agreements above the limit of funds.
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