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Public investments reached 1.1 billion euros in 2023/ 38% were payments during December

2024-02-20 08:24:00, Ekonomi CNA

Public investments reached 1.1 billion euros in 2023/ 38% were payments during

The year 2023 was no exception to the previous years in terms of the administration of public budget investments.

The most productive voice of the state treasury suffers from high non-realization of the plan and concentration of allocations in the last two months of the year.

The official data of the Ministry of Finance show that in the six months of December 2023, 430 million euros were paid in the item "public investments". This amount was as much as 38% of the annual public investment fund of 118 billion lek (1.1 billion euros) that was realized last year.

The volume of investments also remained unrealized even in relation to the plan. Of the 135 billion ALL planned to be invested in 2023, 118 billion ALL were realized or 12% less than the plan.

As can be seen from the graph below, investment payments remain at very low levels during the 10 months of January-October, while payments intensify only in the last two months of the year.

In the first six months of 2023, the government paid only 36 billion ALL or 30% of the annual fund, while in November and December it disbursed 64.2 billion ALL or 54% of the total allocated.

Public investments reached 1.1 billion euros in 2023/ 38% were payments during

Budget investments are the most productive item in the budget, as through them the government increases the added value in the economy by improving the infrastructure in roads, water supply, power lines, etc., but their concentration in the last two months raises concerns about the efficiency of the use of funds.

Last year, the Audit Directorate at the Ministry of Finance requested that institutions should focus on taking measures to achieve this indicator, since the lack of injection of liquidity into the economy significantly affects the provision of well-being in the country, the non-stimulation of economic growth, the opening of new jobs or income from taxes and duties.

Since the General Directorate of Harmonization of Internal Public Financial Control has started producing reports, the implementation of the investment program has received very poor evaluations.

The public investment fund in the last two years was about 1 billion euros for each year, but due to high non-realization and fragmentation in high-cost contracts, there are no visible products for citizens.

Even in 2022, funds for capital investments were realized at 112 billion ALL, of which 49 billion ALL were disbursed during the month of December, 44% of the total fund./ Monitor.al