Financing from the budget, more funds for Tirana and Vora, the poor municipalities of the North

The government has increased the funding from the unconditional transfer to the municipalities in 2024, but for some municipalities where the standard of living is above the national average, there is more increase in funding than for the poor municipalities of the country such as Puka, Kukësi, Bulqiza, Shkodra, etc.

The official data accompanying the draft budget of 2024 show that the unconditional transfer to municipalities will be over 35 billion ALL next year, an increase of about 16 percent compared to the initial 2023 budget.

Comparative data show that the municipality of Vora has the largest increase in funds, which will have transfers from the state budget 20 percent more than in the current year.

Then comes the Municipality of Tirana, which will be financed from the state budget from general taxes with 5.1 billion ALL with an annual increase of 19.5 percent.

The municipality of Tirana has income and expenditure per capita above the national average and is the municipality with the highest budgeting capacities with its own income.

The Municipalities of Këlcyra, Delvina, Pustec, Patos, Peqin, Dropulli, Roskovec have further growth above the general average with funds, where the annual growth is over 17 percent.

On the other hand, the municipalities of Kolonja, Gjirokastra, Bulqiza, Durrës, Saranda, Kukës, Skrapar, Puka, etc. (see the table below) have increased funds by 14.5 percent.

The breakdown of the government's unconditional transfer to municipalities shows that there is greater growth in municipalities that have higher per capita spending.

For example, the municipalities of Kukës and Dibra were ranked with the lowest monthly household expenses in the country in the INSTAT survey for 2022.

Throughout the last decade, as the country's economy has grown, the economy of Kukës has declined. Logically, the poorest county in the country, which has been engulfed in recent years by a large wave of immigration to Great Britain, should have had greater support from the country.

During the year 2024, the local government will benefit in total about 36.5 billion ALL in the form of transfers, of which about 24.3 billion ALL or 66% is general unconditional transfer and 10.7 billion ALL or 29% is in the form of unconditional transfer sectoral transfer for the financing of functions transferred to the local level and 1.5 billion ALL or 5% in the form of sectoral transfer for salary increase.

Local budget expenditures for 2024 are estimated at 71.1 billion ALL or 3% of GDP. The local budget for 2024, compared to the local budget for 2023, is expected to increase by about 6.7 billion ALL.

In this item, the general unconditional transfer for local self-government units, the financing of new functions, the financing of the supplement to cover part of the financial effect of the salary increase as well as the income from taxes and local fees are calculated./Monitor