Minister Hamza Hands Programme for Economic Reform to European Commission Office

He said this programme, even this year, fully adheres to the instructions and criteria for rigorous analysis set by the European Commission.

For the first time, this programme has been designed with direct participation of parties with interest from civil society and the business community, based on a comprehensive negotiation process. Similarly, independent public institutions have contributed directly to the update of this” programme, Hamza said during the programme's delivery.

Hamza said our institutions have worked hard to identify on the basis of evidence the needs and actions to address structural obstacles to the economy, while at the same time, we have reported objectively on reform performance during 2017.

We are fully aware that a long way of transformation awaits us to reach convergence with Union members. Perfecting the market economy requires long-term reforms which create an environment for productivity growth and gradually develops the economy's ability to cope with the competitiveness of a single European market. Towards this journey, however, the first step is the best strategic planning, which ensures that our limited resources are exploited in the most effective way possible”, the finance minister said, while he argued that the programme for reforms in the economy is the platform that enables us to perfect strategic budget and political planning and enables the highest effectiveness of our governance.

According to him, in this year's programme, the main focus is on improving regulatory environment, addressing gaps in public infrastructure, orientation of spending for priority sectors (rendi, education, and health), all of this with a clear focus on creating conditions for private sector development.

The macroeconomic environment, as opposed to the previous year, is more favourable, and provides good opportunities for fiscal opportunities to be driven by long-term reforms. Economic growth is expected to exceed 4.5%, while debt stock is growing carefully, mainly through concessionary loans. The risks are balanced. In this context, it is most encouraging that we are not alone in our reform course. Through economic dialogue following this programme, we expect to take further advantage of the expertise and Commission input”, Hamza said.

In the end, he also thanked technical assistance provided through projects by the Commission and USAID for the civilian staff, which has made significant contributions to drafting this document.