President of the Republic, Ilir Meta has approved Wednesday the request of the Parliament for the immediate entry into force of the draft law "On Eurobond, which will be issued by the Minister of Finance and Economy, approval of tax exemptions and the provisions for waiver of immunity, in the agreements to be concluded by the Minister of Finance and Economy”.

President Meta has given his consent only for the immediate entry into force of this law, in order not to hinder the opportunities for using the Eurobond instrument under the most favorable conditions, and this consent becomes valid only after the approval of the draft law by the Albanian Parliament.

Meanwhile, the Head of State called on all MPs to carefully consider this initiative before its approval, to consider the facts, discuss and decide with transparency and responsibility, when it comes to an instrument that should not only be treated with care, but also must be used efficiently for the benefit of Albania's economy.

On the other hand, the President has demanded the Council of Ministers, Ministry of Finance and Economy, as well as the Committee responsible for Economy and Finance, to submit a report to the MPs and the Plenary Session, in an exhaustive manner on several issues.

In continuation of his views on the level of borrowing and public debt, as well as assessing the concerns and requests raised by the discussions of MPs in the review of this draft law in the Committee on Economy and Finance, President of Albania has demanded the following issues to be included in the report:

- Reasons why the practice of managing the country's finances with decision-making of this nature is pursued, urgent;

- Relevant explanations to the increase in foreign borrowing, which must be treated with caution towards the exchange rate risk (a concern that was also raised by the IMF in its latest report);

- Reporting on public debt performance;

- Reporting in comparative terms the scenario in the case of a borrowing in the internal market, in relation to the use of the Eurobond instrument;

- Complete cost-benefit analysis of borrowing in the domestic market (in ALL/ EUR), or in the foreign market, or a combination thereof;

- An accurate listing of projects intended to be covered by this amount, for which entering into Eurobond is being attempted;

- Ascertaining in a much clearer and more transparent way the purpose of borrowing and the way of using this fund at such high values, especially if the borrowing is intended to be used to finance the deficit and the borrowed debt, as well as to keep a reserve in the Treasury for future budget support, and not to be injected directly into the economy, as vaguely mentioned in the explanatory report;

- Clarifying whether borrowing through this Eurobond intends to repay the borrowings of previous Eurobonds;

- Making available to all MPs of the Assembly of all the documentary practice of this initiative;

- Paying attention to the recommendations of the Bank of Albania, which deems that the issuance of this Eurobond does not affect the monetary policy in the short term, however care should be taken in the medium and long term.

In conclusion, President Meta reiterated his call on the Government and the Assembly to act in a timely manner in such legislative initiatives, in order to leave the necessary space for all structures or institutions to review and evaluate them.