Prime Minister Edi Rama described the approval of a normative act earlier last week as the most important development. He emphasized that the economic growth beyond expectations has given the government the chance to take new measures that support citizens.

During the week's remarks, Rama said that the normative act for the 2026 budget provides for a new bonus for pensioners. He underlined that this is not related to electoral campaigns. Instead, it is based on the policy of sharing additional income from the economy with the categories that need it most.

According to him, all additional tax income obtained from the increase in oil prices, resulting from international tensions, has not been included in the state budget but has been accumulated for the pensioner bonus.

“The highlight of the week was, without a doubt, the June legislative act, where once again the economy, which is growing beyond expectations, bringing in income beyond expectations, gave us the opportunity to come up with a series of measures in direct service to the people and in respect of all those who demand, quite rightly, even more from the government and from society. We approved a bonus for pensioners. A reminder here, because we need to remember something from time to time, even though memory is getting shorter and shorter, and there are more and more people who do not want to know where they come from…The reminder is that last year the spring bonus for pensioners was said, which had the same logic, namely the growth of the economy and the principle that, at the moment when the economy grows and we manage to fulfill what we have predicted and we have something left, what is left should be shared with those who need it most and pensioners are in the first place.”

“So pensioners received another bonus, where every penny benefited from the unnatural increase in oil prices was also included, as a result of the war crisis between the United States, Israel, and Iran, and what happened in the Strait of Hormuz. So, we did not include in the budget a single penny that came from taxes on oil, but we gave it to pensioners,” said Rama.

Rama announced that the government has also approved an additional fund of Euro 15 million for cancer medications, as well as an increase in salaries for emergency doctors.

The normative act also provides for an increase in the sovereign guarantee for the national program of doubling enterprises, as well as a doubling of financial support for people with disabilities and for children with special abilities.