Albanias general government budget close to balance in Jan 2013.

By bne IntelliNews March 18, 2013

Albanias general budget showed a surplus of just ALL 258mn (EUR 2mn) in January 2013, down from ALL 1.7bn a year earlier, finance ministry data showed. Total budget revenues increased by 7.6% y/y to ALL 27.7bn, reflecting an annual rise in both tax and non-tax revenues. In addition, receipts from social contributions also advanced in January. Regarding tax receipts, the combined revenue from indirect taxes fell by 3.4% y/y, as VAT revenues was down by 6.3% y/y and customs duties edged down by 0.1% y/y. Lower revenues from indirect taxes signals for a continued stagnation of the domestic consumption. By contrast, corporate tax revenues increased by 33% y/y and revenues from personal income tax also advanced by 9.3% y/y in January. On the expenditure side, total budget spending grew by 14.2% y/y, which was due to higher current (up by 7.2% y/y) and capital expenditure (up by 107.6% y/y). The government expects the budget gap to account for 3.5% of the GDP in 2013. The cabinet has already decided to remove VAT on cement and steel used for the construction of hydropower plants and expressed commitment to scrap the VAT on imported machinery and equipment, used in agriculture production. Another major tax reform, approved by the cabinet in January, concerns the personal taxation with the introduction of a non-taxable minimum of ALL 30,000 (EUR 215.2) per month for personal income. Currently, Albania taxes personal income with a flat tax rate of 10%.

General Budget, January, ALL bn
	2012	2013	% y/y
Total revenues	25.7	27.7	7.6
VAT	8.4	7.9	-6.3
Corporate profit	1.0	1.3	33.3
Excise	2.3	2.5	9.6
Personal income	2.5	2.7	9.3
National	2.0	2.2	10.0
Customs duties	0.4	0.3	-16.3
Total social contributions	5.6	5.9	5.5
Social insurance	4.6	5.5	19.6
Health insurance	0.9	0.2	-76.0
Non-tax Revenues	2.3	3.1	36.4
Total expenditures of which:	24.0	27.4	14.2
Current	22.4	24.0	7.2
Capital	1.7	3.5	107.6
Balance	1.7	0.3	-84.9
Balance (% of GDP forecast)	0.1	0.0
Source: Ministry of finance

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