Government deals with fighting poverty

TIRANA, July 25 – A month after the June 28 parliamentary election the government is trying to show it is in full form in the fight on poverty.
But it is has made a good decision by stopping the holding of tenders until the new cabinet comes to power.
Prime Minister Sali Berisha focused last week’s meeting of the cabinet on problems of poverty, especially in certain regions of the country, while unveiling that the government will build a platform of positive discrimination as the proper response to this problem.
“Poverty chart confirms that several regions of the country have to cope with clear poverty, in a percentage that is higher and cannot be compared with other regions of the country,” said the premier while emphasizing that, “ơlong with the affirmative action with the pensions, small salaries and employment, we must define a package of positive discrimination in favor of these regions through which to give the opportunity to their citizens to build a normal life of dignity and beyond poverty.”
Along with employment, Premier Berisha identified even education as an important direction where the work of the government will focus. Thus, the premier demanded from the Ministry of Education and Science to process and to present the platform to the Cabinet by August 18.
The government also decided to freeze all investments, from August 3, due to weakening revenue streams and higher expenditures in the run-up to the recent national election.
With the June 28 parliamentary poll behind them, experts say Albania’s politicians must initiate a candid debate on the local impact of the global downturn.
Berisha denied that government investment was frozen due to budget shortfalls, saying that this was caused by his refusal to wait until September, when investment plans are redrawn, to form a new government.
“We cannot play the imaginary patient when we speak of the Albanian economy,” said Berisha, who went on to project high economic growth in the second financial quarter.
However, according to Albania’s Central Bank, economic growth this year is expected to be minimal, owing to the effects of the global economic recession.
Central Bank governor Ardian Fullani has repeatedly called on the government to exercise better oversight of public spending in order to boost investors’ confidence in the economy.
Until recently, economic problems had been overshadowed by the general election campaign.
While the government continues to base its spending on projections of 6 per cent GDP growth in 2009, international organizations, such as the IMF, predict that GDP growth will be a mere 0.4 per cent.