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Prishtina, 12 November 2007 – The 39th meeting of the Economic and Fiscal Council (EFC), chaired by the PDSRSG Steven Schook, resulted with the approval of the draft budget for 2008. For the first time the budget will exceed the threshold of € 1 billion and over €350m are allocated for new capital investments, which is higher than previous years. According to Haki Shatri, Minister of Economy and Finance (MEF), the budget is drafted based on the Midterm Expenditure Framework and is in compliance with the existing regulations and recommendations of the international financial institutions.
He added that some € 110 million will be invested in energy. “We will allocate money for the repair of all existing capacities and we expect that by 30 March all capacities will be able to produce. This is the way we will eliminate the need for import” said Shatri. UNMIK praised the government for the timely preparation of the draft. “It is a very ambitious budget and probably the most scrutinized budget in the world.”
For the first time Kosovo has an extra €50 million that will be allocated for emergency cases, while in social transfers the amount from €129 million increased to €150 million. Also, €10 million were allocated for early retirement of 1,580 KPC members and €3 million for early pensions of “Trepca” workers. The approval of Kosovo Budget 2008 by EFC makes possible that discussion about Budget 2008 is sent to the Kosovo Assembly and later to UNMIK chief Joachim Ruecker for his signature.
ECIKS