Zeka wants to implement Emergency Package, expects economic recovery to take place next year

So has the executive director of the American Economic Ode in Kosovo, Arrian Zeka, although expressing disappointment over the failure to implement the Special Fiscal Pack, respectively, measures for businesses and private sector workers.

The American Economic Oda in Kosovo has welcomed the creation of Kosovo's new government at a time when the country needs extraordinary needs to advance the agenda of business reforms.

Facing the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic in the economy, as well as a legislative dynamic process, should be at the top of the new Government priorities of the Republic of Kosovo.

Likewise, the approval of a comprehensive package of economic recovery, which should be the product of a dialogue process with all relevant Heeders in Kosovo, should be of extraordinary importance.

However, the executive director of the American Economic Ode expresses his concern about failing to implement the Packe Emergency Measures for Business. According to him, there is a large number of complaints from businesses about not implementing this package in terms of the rent measure.

Our “our concern is not to implement all the measures before us under the Emergency Tax Plan, which was approved months ago, there are still measures that have not been implemented to the end. We still get complaints from companies that have not received compensation for paying the rent. There are also companies, including employees of companies who have complained of refusing to accept compensation for the March, April and May salaries, as envisioned with the fiscal emergency plan. This is more than necessary to complete these measures. In fact, a proposal of ours, even the Central Bank proposal, has been that some of these measures, such as paying salaries and rents, continue for the past May months, given that liquidity in companies has been one of the most expressed problems during the past weeks”, Zeka claims.

The package should provide proportional coverage of damages that have been caused in all sectors following the outbreak of the COVID-19, but at the same time also serve as the framework for complete restructuring of the country's economy.

As for the recovery of the economy after the pandemic, Zeka in an interview for Kosova Pres has stressed that if the economy becomes a whole and doesn't repeat Avid-19 this year, economic recovery is achieved during 2021.

If there isn't a change and there will be further improvement in the epidemiological situation, then the expectations are that, just as the World Bank meant to go with the most optimistic BB scenario, which means that if the restrictive measures are removed before this year's second three months, then economic recovery is achieved in 2021. As long as we don't see a repeat or a re-establishment of restrictive measures, or in the worst scenario we have the return of a new pandemic wave in the fall of this year, as is discussed from time to time”, he says.

Likewise, Zeka expects that this year there will be a decline in remittances and a decline in expenses by exiles.

“Already made grim predictions both from international financial institutions, but also from our local institutions that, however, we will see a decline in remittances this year linked to even reducing visits by Kosovo diaspora hosts this year. Maybe it's early to conclude on something like that, at least the remittances train in the past two months since the pandemic explosion has been quite positive. Even here, we can't conclude if this is related to the fact that remittances are only sent through official channels after closing borders, and therefore, remittances have not marked a decline, but have even marked the rise at least in terms of official statistics, but I believe there will be a decline in remittances, I believe there will be a drop in expenditures that the diaspora will make in Kosovo during 2020. This is also due to the reduction of some of the economic activities, the ban on family recreation, which is believed to be spent on significant means of remittances from the diaspora”, Zeka points out.

The American Oda reiterates its earlier attitudes that the new government's programme should highlight addressing and resolving issues related to human capital, reducing the gap in the vacuum of skills, functionalisation of the rule of law, the removal of barriers to free movement of goods, services and capital, as well as the continued reform of the environment of doing business, which would be stimulating for foreign and domestic investments.