Minister of Finance Hekuran Murati responded to opposition MPs who criticized the government for inaction following the rise in fuel prices.

He first stated that last year’s economic growth was 3.6%, which Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) leader Bedri Hamza had earlier described as one of the lowest in recent years.

Murati replied that this was due to the “lack of full functioning of institutions.”

“Regarding the IMF report, Mr. Hamza, it is true that last year the growth was estimated at 3.6%, but according to the report itself, this is due to the lack of full functioning of institutions. As you know, last year throughout the year, the Assembly of the Republic of Kosovo was not fully functional and it prevented many reforms, and even the approval of many international agreements that would have given an additional boost to the country’s economy. By comparison, in 2018 when you were Minister of Finance, with no crisis and with a functioning parliament and government, economic growth was only 3.4%. So, it was even lower than what we had when the Assembly was not functioning,” he said.

During the extraordinary session, Murati said it is false that wages have not increased.

“As for wages, it was said that they have not increased. That is also false. In the public sector, wages have increased by 45%, not including the 13th salary that has just been paid. Meanwhile, the minimum wage, from the level of 170 euros that we found, is currently 425 euros and will reach 500 euros in July this year. So, it is almost a threefold increase in the minimum wage in the private sector,” Murati said.

During the parliamentary debate, he also responded to the head of the AAK Parliamentary Group, Besnik Tahiri, who said that the government has taken no measures as other countries have.

“Regarding Mr. Tahiri, you said that other countries have taken measures, and it is true that they have done so because they have much higher taxes. As a government, we have not changed either excise duty or VAT, meaning we have not increased them,” he stated.

The parliamentary debate on rising fuel prices is ongoing in the Assembly, where the LDK had earlier presented a resolution calling on the government to take immediate measures.