Kosova’s Minister of Economy and Finance Haki Shatri has promised that the increased € 850 million will be mostly used to benefit teachers and pensioners.

Below is an article published by Balkan Investigative Reporting Network:

Kosovo’s Minister of Economy and Finance, Haki Shatri, promised on Tuesday [12 June 2007] that the increased budget for 2008 will be mostly used to benefit teachers and pensioners. “Families of people who died in the war and war invalids will [also] be fully supported”, Shatri said.

The territory’s Economic Fiscal Council, which operates under the supervision of Steven Schook, deputy head of the UN Mission in Kosovo, UNMIK, on Tuesday [12 June 2007] revealed that Kosovo’s budget next year would be 850 million euros.

According to UNMIK statistics Kosovo`s Budget for 2006 was 700 million euros, and for this year it is 717, 5 million euros.

The former province of Serbia, Kosovo has been a UN protectorate since the end of the NATO-led air war against the regime of Slobodan Milosevic in 1999.

Shatri said he had IMF agreement for the proposal to support “families of the people killed in the war and war invalids 100 per cent”.

Poverty is one of the main problems in Kosovo. The World Bank’s Poverty Assessment classifies 37 per cent of the 2 million population as “poor”, meaning they live on less than 1.42 euros per day. Moreover, 15 per cent live below the extreme poverty line of 0.93 euros per day.

Average pensions in Kosovo are 40 euros per month, while teachers` salary is approximately 180 euros per month.

The government expects to draw 760 million euros in revenue in 2008, which means it will run at a deficit of 90 million euros to meet its expenses.