TIRANA (Albania), December 21 (SeeNews) – Albania's parliament said it has turned down a decree by president Ilir Meta on a revision of the 2019 draft budget.
No changes were made to the draft budget, parliament said in a press release late on Thursday.
On December 3, Albania's parliament endorsed the 2019 draft budget which is built on projections for economic growth of up to 4.3% and targets deficit equivalent to 1.9% of the planned gross domestic product (GDP). The budget envisages revenues of 486.5 billion leks ($443 million/339 million euro) and expenditures of 519.4 billion leks. Public investment is projected at 5% of GDP. The government plans to cut public debt-to-GDP ratio to 64.9% in 2019 from around 66% expected this year.
The reasons for the requested revision of the budget put forth by the head of state have no concrete references to the budget bill, economy minister Arben Ahmetaj told parliament.
In his words, the government intends to use grants allocated to universities to address the students’ requests.
Last week, president Meta refused to sign into law the 2019 budget bill, following protests of university students demanding lower tuition fees and increased spending on education.
The students pressed for lower university tariffs, increase of budget for education to 5% of GDP from 2.9%, improvement of university standards and overhaul of dormitories, increased students' presence on decision-making boards in universities, as well as review of academic titles, Tirana-based media reported at the time.
Considering the students' demands to be legitimate and feasible, as well as aiming at meeting the social objectives in the country and maintaining its stability, the president has decided to return the law on 2019 budget to parliament for revision, the President’s office said in a press release last week.
($ = 0.87468 euro)