The Bank of Albania must be legally commissioned by Parliament to calculate the public debt with regards to the GDP and notify Parliament on every case government violates the public debt limit, says opposition leader Edi Rama
TIRANA, Dec. 12 – At a time when the ruling Democratic-Party-led coalition has already approved the removal of the 60 percent of the GDP debt ceiling, opposition Socialist Party leader Edi Rama has proposed that the central bank should be legally responsible for calculating the public debt and setting a debt ceiling. “The Bank of Albania must be legally commissioned by Parliament to calculate the public debt with regards to the GDP. The Bank of Albania must be legally forced to notify Parliament on every case government violates the public debt limit,” said Rama calling for consensus among parties.
Rama said the government had failed to keep its 2009 promises of keeping inflation rate below an annual rate of 3 percent, reducing public debt to 50 percent of the GDP and keeping budget deficit at 3 percent. “Today, we have a public debt officially over 60 percent, which along with hidden debt reaches above 100 percent of the GDP.”
With six months to go before the new general elections are held, opposition leader Rama said he would support government initiative on removing VAT on machinery imports as one of the alternatives in the Socialist Party’s programme. He also called on government to lift taxes on small businesses, remove VAT on chemical fertilizers and reduce VAT on seeds to 10 percent. “In fact, some 350,000 village households benefit from the removal of VAT on chemical fertilizers and seeds,” added Rama. The opposition leader says the 2013 budget does not provide a solution to falling purchasing power, rising bad loans, or unfinished investments.
Bank of Albania governor Ardian Fullani called for a new fiscal rule after the removal of the 60 percent of the GDP public debt ceiling, implying that the central bank does not approve of a situation where public debt limits are legally undetermined
