IMF: Albania should increase social help for those in need

During recent months, the IMF and the World Bank have reiterated that Albania should create new assistance programs, or improve existing ones, to help social groups most hard hit by the increase in food and energy prices. Experts note that inflation produces different impacts on populations in different income levels. Those who earn less are most affected by inflation, especially if it caused or expressed as an increase in food prices. Officials note that the prices of basic food products has increases by seven to ten percent in Albania during the first quarter of 2008.
At a time that need might be increasing, the government of Prime Minister Berisha appears, last year, to have reduced the number of families receiving social assistance from 117,000 to only 80,000. The rationale, at the time of the reductions, was that many of these families were no longer entitled to receive social help. In addition, the government reduced payments for social help. In December 2006, the full social help was Euro 23.6 per family per month and half social help was only Euro16 per family per month. After the reform of the social assistance package, the full social help was reduced to Euro 19.8, while the half social help was reduced to just Euro 13.3 per month. In total, the Albanian state spends roughly Euro 100 million for its social programs.
Observers claim that almost 20 percent of Albanians, or 600,000 people, live in poverty. However, only half of them receive any kind of social assistance. Further, many others live close to the official poverty line. Any increase in food prices may immediately cause a rise in the number of people living in poverty.