Bytyqi: 2027 budget increases debt burden while capital investment lags behind

At today’s meeting of the Finance and Budget Committee, which reviewed the proposed budget for 2027, LSDM lawmaker Fatmir Bytyqi criticized the government for a lack of transparency and institutional accountability over the Alta Bank scandal. He said the government was asking to be trusted with managing more than 440 billion denars in public funds without accounting for the case. Bytyqi said both the Alta Bank scandal and the budget showed a lack of transparency around vested interests, political influence and an evasion of responsibility.

According to Bytyqi, the 2027 budget continues an economic model that limits the country’s development opportunities, increases debt and relegates investment and citizens’ needs to the background.

He pointed to the breakdown of total spending of 440.44 billion denars: 399.62 billion denars is earmarked for current expenditure and just 40.82 billion denars for capital expenditure. This means nearly 91% of the funds will be used for the government’s day-to-day operations, compared with just 9.3% for capital investment.

Bytyqi said it was particularly concerning that funding for interest payments is rising by 18.2%, while capital expenditure is increasing by only 1.7%.

He said that for every additional denar earmarked for capital investment, approximately five and a half additional denars are planned for interest payments. According to Bytyqi, this shows that the cost of servicing public debt is rising much faster than new investment in the country’s economic future.