Rama: Budget cuts show severe crisis

TIRANA, July 20 – Opposition Socialist Party leader and Tirana Mayor Edi Rama said the budget review showed the severe crisis the country has plunged into, and the key sectors it has affected including Albanian households. The comments were made in a press conference on Tuesday, one day after majority MPs approved in principle changes to the 2010 budget.
According to Rama, the crisis is more severe than official data made available by what he called the “Government-Bank of Albania-INSTAT” trio.
He said that the economy’s biggest threat was “the secret debts which are twice bigger than those publicly declared.”
Rama said the increase in electricity, drinking water and phone bills was five times bigger than the wage and pension rise government approved earlier this month. Electricity prices have increased by 13 percent, drinking water bills by 26 percent and health services by 46 percent during this year, said the head of the biggest opposition party.