The ruling party calls the 2022 budget the highest ever, opposition calls it the fraud budgets

The 2022 draft, which is being considered at today's plenary session of the ruling party in Kosovo, is considered the highest budget ever, while opposition parties mostly call it the budget of fraud and without any fiscal policy that affects economic growth.

The task of the head of the Vetevendosje Movement parliamentary group, Mimoza Kusari-Lila, says this parliamentary group supports the draft budget proposed for 2022.

“With the draft budget of 2022 we understand the governing principles in accountability transparency, lowering spending and preventing unnecessary spending from government decisions such as the case of once privatised land expropriation assessments and then rescinding back to the government for infrastructure projects... With the budget presented today in the Kosovo Assembly, 40 million direct support is being made for local producers to increase their capacity and expand markets in and outside Kosovo, very soon public discussions on the legislative amendments of the AKP law and transfer of assets from this agency to that of the Sovereign Fund, and this process is directly linked to money investments in the current economic areas, which are provided with the current budget worth 1 million and 800 thousand euros, which can also be used as a basis for attracting additional investments to current areas such as the new areas and industrial areas such as Lapov, the Gjakov, the Gjakovovici, said.

Kusari-Lila said Kosovo's budget for 2022 is on a good track, while added that the <x0-second day the seeds are planted is not the day the fruits are eaten, so the seeds once planted are still expected to release their fruits”.

“We generally have the entire Kosovo budget for 2022, however, to make the content changes that will be seen and reflected in all emerging areas of prosperity still have to be passed through the revision process and to the adoption of the 2023 budget when spending on investments, which are a burden to some in the Kosovo budget in particular those of infrastructure. One thing to know is that the day seeds are planted is not the day that fruits are eaten, so the seeds that were once sown are still expected to release their fruits”, she said.

PDK MP Mergim Lushtaku stressed that the 2022 project is not developmental and will not improve the welfare of citizens. He also said that Kurti Government and this budget have only one message, the budget of fraud.

“Project budget for 2022 does not deliver a message that would improve the welfare of citizens. There are also no figures proving that the situation will improve in education, health, and no reliable figures that will improve the lives of people of sensitive categories, pensioners, disabled, martyrs. There is no hope for employees that there will be salary increases and there is no change that gives hope to damaged businesses, many of them caused by pandemic. The hypocritical government Kurti and this budget simply gives us a message that is not the budget of development, but simply a budget of fraud, as is this great fraud government of citizens”, Lushtaku said.

LDK MP Avdullah Hoti called the budget of subsidies and grants. He says that there is nothing private sector expects from this budget, while saying that no fiscal policy that has a powerful developmental orientation of the private sector economy is reflected in this draft budget.

Hoti has found it strange to support public companies along with the government's expression for halting financial bloodshed in these companies.

“Fokus is all about spending 100% on state treasury expenses first must be filled and then spent. There is no reflection on any fiscal policy that has a powerful developmental orientation of the private sector economy that enables us to fill the budget and then distribute this budget to all fiscal policies. I have the impression that subsidies and grants are oriented, but subsidies and grants do not develop the economy, help the small economy, help the farms, small businesses stay on the market but do not enable long-term economic development. It is large local and foreign investments led by their profit that enable stable jobs and boosting competitiveness at the global level, and these are done only through stimulating fiscal policies not through subsidies. So the private sector doesn't have what to expect from this budget. In the next three years, there is no major infrastructure investment that creates multi-pleasional effects on the economy. Little wonder that the famous foreign expression that you have managed to stop “financial choice” in public enterprise, but now you still give public companies tools why you need taxes on public companies if you have stopped “financial choice” in those companies”, he said.

AAK MP Paul Lekaj has said that with this budget, no salary hikes have been addressed at all, even though he said there is extreme price increases. He has criticised Prime Minister Kurti, who was not present at the session where the budget bill is being considered.

As for “hes”, who mentioned by the leader of the Vetevendosje Movement parliamentary group, Mimoza Kusari-Lila, AAK deputy said that “You can plant seed of wheat, but you can be released in Egypt”

The government's approach to a budget benefiting citizens is total ignorance. When we talk about the Kosovo budget, we are talking about the government's programme, we are discussing government access to economic development and meeting the needs of citizens in each sphere. The absolute majority of promises come true with the budget and if they are not part of the budget then it is about government promises and demagogueries that are in power. Initially, this budget has not addressed salary increases at all, even though there are extreme price increases. We're talking about agriculture, because we've got the ministry here, the 11 million increase in farm subsidies is a common increase and a ratio to budget growth, and it's not enough because at this year, farmers have not been treated in harmony with the difficulties they had in pandemics and damage to climate change... Perhaps the wallet was raised to the minister of finance, to be smoother, even if we have other parliamentary elections. I said it in the Commission, and it's my suspicion”, he said.