Difficult negotiations with the WB

13/01/2012 00:00

The negotiations with the World Bank for the additional loan seem to be
difficult. The most debated point of the negotiations is related with
the way how the public finances are managed by the government.

The Bank asked for the government program to make a fast reduction of the public debt, but this would impose cuts in the infrastructure expenses. The Minister of Finances commented these negotiations for the first time and declared that the government will not accept any kind of condition.

“The Ministry of Finances is working with the World Bank, the Bank of Development, the Bank of Albania and the Ministries, but our activity is led by the public interest and the Albanian economy. We will materialize everything that will be for the public’s interest and for the country. We will not accept anything that we consider as inappropriate”, Bode declared.

This year, the government will not face only the pressures for cutting the investments, but also the additional expenses that should be used for the 100th year of independence. Although the inter-ministerial committee discussed voluminous ideas and projects, Bode says that there will be a limit.

“At the Reserve Fund of the Council of Ministers, we have programmed a fund that will be allocated for these celebrations. There will be no extra bills, but it will be allocated through the budget program”, Bode underlined.

The Minister of Finances presented the financial results of the government for 2011. He said that the government was able to respect all financial indicators that were imposed by the Parliament. Mr. Bode declared that the government has been able to reduce the expenses for the debt interests to 3.1% of the GDP, in the conditions of a difficult year.

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