Ministry of Finances, ALL 14 billion in the supplementary budget

Tirana, June 16 – Sources at the Ministry of Finances said that the surpluses resulting from improved fiscal performance are going to be used to finance the supplementary budget. It is expected that the supplementary budget is going to allocate ALL 14 billion to new projects. The supplementary budget of 2007 was substantially larger at ALL 28 billion.
The parliament is going to approve the budget in July 2008. For the time being, the specialists at the Ministry of Finances are busy dividing the funds between different Ministries and projects. The specialists said that the bulk of the funds are going to be used for new investments in infrastructure.
It is still unclear if the new supplementary budget is going to distribute special funds to Albanian Power Corporation (KESH). The 2007 supplementary budget allocated ALL 5 billion to KESH for importing electricity.
The government is planning to immediately also use the revenue from the sale of ARMO. The Associated Refinery of Texas paid Euro 125 million to buy ARMO. According to Deputy Minister of Finances, Sherefedin Shehu, the Albanian government is going to use half of the money to pay parts of its foreign debt. The second half is going to be used to finance new investments. Further, nearly 90 percent of the remaining half is going to be used to finance investments in infrastructure. The government has already declared that it intends to speed up the work in the Durr촩- Morina road, especially in its most difficult segment, Rr촨en- Kalimash. (Tirana Times Staff)