Govt to Increase Wages in 2019, Ahmetaj Says
The government will lower the level of taxations thought the new 2019 fiscal package that will come into force on January 1, Minister of Economy and Finance Arben Ahmetaj said on Friday. The government intends to lower corporate tax on dividends to 8% from 15% and lower tax for wages higher than Lek 130,000 per month, Ahmetaj said during his speech at a press conference on the country's economic performance. According to Ahmetaj economic growth in Albania was supported by the growth of the energy, tourism and manufacturing sectors. He cited the latest revised World Bank projection of the economic growth of Albania to 4% and said that growth of the second quarter is above the annual forecast level. According to the World Bank, Albania has the highest employment growth in the region, Ahmetaj added. "We have reduced unemployment to historical record levels," Ahmetaj said, adding some 684,209 employees are registered in the system as of September. Ahmetaj also said that the average wage continues to grow. He also said that the most important projects in Albania are near finalization, but tourism, manufacturing services and industry are generating new investments by entrepreneurs foreign. In 2017, FDI to Albania fell to 908.3 million euro, compared to 942.5 million euro in 2016. Currently, Albania's economy is driven by two big energy projects - the construction of the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) designed to carry natural gas from Azerbaijan to Italy via Albania, and works on a hydropower plant on the Devoll river.
