Pristina, November 17, 2022
The speech of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, in the Assembly of the Republic of Kosovo, about the 2023 budget:
Dear Government Cabinet,
Dear Members of Parliament,
Dear citizens,
Last year was the most successful year in the history of our state in terms of revenue and economic growth. This year, despite the global challenges and crises, continued the positive trend, and enabled us to have a consolidation of public finances. According to the evaluations of the International Monetary Fund, Kosovo is one of the first countries among the developing economies in Europe that has achieved such success, which is the reference of the IMF for other countries in terms of the consolidation of public finances. This puts us in a more favorable position for the challenges that may await us next year. While we have a very positive projection for the next fiscal year.
The budget for 2023 will be 3 billion and 212 million euros, while budget revenues will reach the value of 2 billion and 884 million euros. In this case, we allocated 745 million euros in the “Salaries and Wages” category, 493 million euros in the “Goods and Services” category, 1 billion and 98 million euros in “Subsidies and Transfers” and 811 million euros in “Capital Expenditures”.
As for specific projects, they reflect our Government Program:
We have added 240 new positions for the inspectorates. This means more labor inspectors to protect workers’ rights; more health inspectors to ensure the quality of services; more market inspectors to ensure consumer protection; and more tax inspectors to ensure tax collection that enables the provision of better public services.
We have allocated 296 million euros for the health sector, the most ever since the declaration of independence. 60 million euros of these, are for essential drugs, so that we make sure that hospitals and family medicine centers are well supplied to provide services to citizens. We have also given importance to the construction of health infrastructure. We have accompanied the increase in the health infrastructure budget with the increase in the number of medical staff, where we have added 400 positions.
In line with our promise for the early development of children, we have continued the budget line for the construction of nurseries, where for this year we have budgeted 11 of them. Just like in health, we have followed the investments in infrastructure with the increase of human capacities. We have added 243 new staff positions for daycare centers that are expected to be operational. Also, with this draft budget, we are fulfilling, even surpassing what was done in the second year of the mandate, our promise to engage 500 assistants for children with disabilities.
We have continued to support our farmers. For 2023, the budget for them for the first time reaches the figure of 87 million euros. Together with the support from external funds, we expect to exceed the value of 100 million euros, which was our promise.
In the current context, support to the security and defense sector is important. Therefore, we have added 300 new positions for the Police, and we have increased the budget for the purchase of modern weaponry for our army. The total budget for the Ministry of Defense for the next year is 123 million euros. So this year we increased the defense budget by approximately 52% compared to last year, while in the coming year, it will be approximately 20% higher than this year. As well as being the highest ever, it is almost double the budget we inherited in 2021, from £67 million to £123 million – taking 10 years for previous governments to do the same. In 2011, the budget was 35 million and then in 2021, 67 million.
The allowances for maternity and children that we promised, we started at a time when everyone was skeptical that they could be realized. Within the second year of government, with the budget for 2023, we are also fulfilling this promise of ours, including all children under the age of 16 in the scheme. For this, we have allocated a budget of 60 million euros.
The return of state customs terminals was also one of our promises. We started fulfilling it in the year we are leaving behind, with the opening of the state customs terminal in Mitrovica, in the premises of the public enterprise Trepça. This year, however, we operationalized the state customs terminal in Durrës and the one in Podujevë. In this way, we will continue with the terminal at Prishtina airport and in Vërmica, as well as with other terminals, for which we have allocated a total of 6 million euros.
We have budgeted the completion of the roads that are already in process for several years, as well as added the budget for the start of the expansion of the Prishtina-Peja road, and the construction of the Prizren-Tetovo road.
Now that we have completed the feasibility study, for affordable housing, we have foreseen the start of work next year, and at the same time we have started the procedures to secure the necessary financing from international financial institutions.
We will also continue supporting public enterprises, in their return to profitability, so that they become contributors to economic development. Once again, we allocated 40 million euros for investments in these enterprises.
After an extremely successful year in the field of Culture, Youth and Sports, the budget for the next year of this ministry will be over 57 million euros, significantly higher than this year’s.
For state reserves, we have allocated an additional 15 million euros for 2023 to continue filling them, after allocating 10 million euros for this year in which we are.
And now with the support of the European Union, we will have another 75 million euros that will go to support citizens to overcome the energy crisis. This will come in addition to the many projects in the energy sector that is going to start soon, such as the expansion of central heating, the solar park in KEK, and batteries with the Millennium Challenge Corporation.
In foreign policy, the focus of budget investment this year will be on Public Diplomacy, Economic Diplomacy and emigration.
There are also many other projects and initiatives that are in this budget, but there are also many challenges. However, together, through the realization of the Government Program, and the literal execution of this budget, we should ease the lives of citizens, develop the economy, and increase employment.
Dear citizens,
We are aware of the serious economic and energy situation caused by Russia’s war in Ukraine. This draft budget is intended to be entirely helpful to you. With it, we continue the realization of our electoral and governmental commitments and projects, as well as dealing with the current crisis. When we competed in the elections on February 14 last year, the only crisis we faced was the Covid-19. When we took office, we managed to provide vaccines for it very quickly. But, in the meantime, a new crisis arose, which was caused as a result of the military aggression and the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Inflation, the energy crisis and the food crisis are these three main points which are being discussed in all countries of the world. Therefore, all that I mentioned earlier are in the service of this as well. As a government cabinet, we have increased vigilance to take concrete measures and decisions whenever necessary, to make your life easier and increase your well-being.
Therefore, the Economic Revival Package that we started in 2021, we continued in 2022, attaching the Inflation Dealing Package to it.
Therefore, dear members of the Assembly of the Republic, I invite you to support the above-mentioned areas and the citizens of the Republic of Kosovo, which is foreseen in the draft budget for the next year 2023, with your vote today.
Thank you.
Last modified: November 17, 2022