Rama on the 2026 Budget Normative Act: Bonus for Pensioners, 15 Million Euros More for Cancer Patients and Higher Salaries for Emergency Doctors

Prime Minister Edi Rama said the economy’s better-than-expected performance has created room for the government to approve, through the 2026 Budget Normative Act, a new support package for citizens.

In the “Flasim” podcast, he announced that the measures include a bonus for pensioners, additional funds for medications for cancer patients, salary increases for emergency doctors, as well as a doubling of support for people with disabilities and for children with special needs.

According to Rama, all additional revenues generated by the rise in oil prices during the latest crisis were not included in the budget, but were instead distributed as a bonus for pensioners.

“The main headline of the week was, without discussion, the June normative act, where once again the economy, which is growing beyond forecasts and bringing in revenues beyond forecasts, gave us the opportunity to come forward with a series of measures in the direct service of the people and in respect of all those who, quite rightly, ask for even more from the government and from society, through the government.

We approved a bonus for pensioners. A reminder here, because from time to time some things need to be remembered, even though memory is getting ever shorter and there are more and more people who do not want to know where they are coming from. But Churchill put it well when he said that ‘whoever forgets where they are coming from has no idea where they are going.’

The reminder is that last year it was said that the spring bonus for pensioners, which had the same logic — namely economic growth and the principle that when the economy grows and we manage to meet what we had forecast and something is left over, what remains should be shared with those who need it most, and pensioners are first in line — ‘they were doing it for the campaign,’ they said. No. We do not have any campaign. Our next campaign is in 2029. So pensioners received another bonus, which also included every penny gained from the unnatural increase in oil prices as a result of the war crisis between the United States, Israel and Iran, and what happened in the Strait of Hormuz.

So, we did not put a single penny of the extra revenue from fuel taxes into the budget, but gave it to pensioners. Likewise, we made available another 15 million euros for the medications of cancer patients, and we also decided on a salary increase for emergency doctors. True heroes!

We decided to increase the sovereign guarantee for the national program that will soon begin, for the doubling of enterprises.

We decided to double support for people with disabilities.

We decided to double support for children with special abilities. I recall that last year, also thanks to a gaffe I made, for which I apologized, the issue of autistic children became a problem. In that campaign I pledged that we would double support for them, and we did. Just as we also gave caregivers of people with disabilities or children with special abilities support that they had long been asking for, not to mention the other parts that went toward rural development and urban development.

This is a main headline that did not get much space, because it is known what the entire communication and information system in Albania is dealing with. Meanwhile, on the other hand, I am paying very close attention, and an entire team is listening very carefully to everything that should be heard from the boulevard protest, which has two layers: the ‘running water’ of all those who came out sincerely and who are sincerely concerned or have real troubles, and the ‘black crust’ of all the bitter failures who have come from all walks of life, who have created a convulsive situation in which the inevitable elements of violence have also appeared in such cases, because when you follow Berihai, in the end you find yourself facing a wall,” Rama said.