The Albanian Parliament approved the draft budget for 2026 with 83 votes "for" from the ruling Socialist Party of Albania and 32 "against" by opposition MPs, Euronews Albania reported, BTA reported.
Albania's draft budget for 2026 reaches 886.8 billion Albanian lek (nearly 9.2 billion euros).
The budget will finance the increase in the minimum wage to 50 thousand lek (517 euros) and the indexation of salaries in the public administration by 2.5 percent, starting from January 1, 2026, ATA reported.
The draft budget for 2026 also provides funds for an increase in the minimum pension to 200 euros and the average to 400 euros per month.
According to the information portal "Schiptar" The largest budget within the draft budget for next year will be received by the Albanian Ministry of Health (820 million euros), while the Ministry of Infrastructure and Energy will have 770 million euros. The budget of both ministries has been increased by 20 million euros, the portal notes.
Albanian Finance Minister Petrit Malij, quoted by Euronews Albania, said during the budget presentation in parliament that budget revenues for 2026 are expected to amount to 823.1 billion lek (8.5 billion euros) or 29.6 percent of GDP, which is an increase of about 52.9 billion lek (nearly 548 million euros) compared to 2025.
He added that budget expenditures are expected to amount to 886.8 billion lek (nearly 9.2 billion euros) or 31.9 percent of GDP, which is an increase of 55 billion lek (nearly 570 million euros).
According to him, the increase in expenditures is equivalent to about 550 million euros more compared to the previous year.