Kurti: Wage coefficient expected to rise to 120 euros on July 1, 2027

Prime Minister Albin Kurti announced at the ninth meeting of the Kosovo government that the draft 2027 budget provides for an increase in the wage coefficient from 110 to 120 euros, starting July 1, 2027. A 13th salary payment is also planned for employees paid from the budget in the first half of the year.

According to Kurti, the wage fund will reach 1 billion and 85 million euros. Calculated across approximately 85,000 public-sector employees, that represents an average gross annual salary of more than 12,000 euros, or more than 1,000 euros gross per month. The prime minister said this fulfills one of the promises for the next term and that wages will continue to rise every year.

The proposed 2027 budget totals 4.27 billion euros: 200 million euros more than the revised 2026 budget and 300 million euros above that year’s original budget. Of that amount, 908 million euros is earmarked as direct funding for municipalities. Kurti described it as a record budget for municipalities, attributing it to the continued increase in government grants.

Kurti said Kosovo’s economy grew by 5.4 percent in the first quarter of this year and 4.1 percent in the second, despite the challenges facing the country and the rest of the world. According to him, those rates place Kosovo among the fastest-growing countries in the region and beyond, while supporting the increase in the budget and the stability of public finances. He added that, under the draft 2027 budget, the revenue expected to be collected by the Kosovo Tax Administration (ATK) will amount to 60 percent of the revenue expected to be collected by customs.

At the same meeting, the prime minister said the budget provides for child allowances to increase in four stages, each by 25 percent of the current amount annually. The first increase takes effect on January 1, 2027; the others are planned for January 2028, 2029 and 2030. Once the fourth stage is complete, the allowances will have doubled, in line with the pledge made for this term.

To illustrate the first increase, Kurti said a family with two children that now receives 60 euros will receive 75 euros from January, while a family with four children will see its allowance rise from 180 to 225 euros. The increases, he said, will continue each year until the allowances have doubled.

Kurti also discussed the budget allocation concerning the four former KLA leaders and the Kosovo trial panel, in line with a request submitted by the defense teams. As for the rest of the engagement and support, he said the strategy of the working group chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Glauk Konjufca is awaited.

Once approved, the budget bill must be sent to the Kosovo Assembly for review and a vote. LDK lawmakers have criticized the government, claiming that the legal deadline for submitting the 2027 budget has been missed.