The government has submitted the 2027 draft budget to Parliament, with total spending exceeding 10 billion euros. According to figures presented by the finance minister, the largest share of public funds will go to social protection, while the plan also includes significant investments in infrastructure and key sectors such as education and healthcare. But the draft has entered the parliamentary process amid opposition objections over the way it was presented in Parliament.
Revenue below spending, gap to be covered by deficit
The draft budget foresees budget revenues of 907.9 billion lek, or around 9.4 billion euros, while total expenditure is calculated at 976 billion lek, or more than 10 billion euros.
The difference between the two items will be covered through the budget deficit, which according to the government is projected at 2.3% of Gross Domestic Product. Along the same lines, the executive projects public debt to fall to 52.4% of GDP, from 52.9% in 2025, while the economy is expected to grow by 4% in 2026.
Pensions and social protection take the main share
The largest spending item remains social protection, at 279.7 billion lek, or around 30% of the overall budget. The government presents this as the social orientation of the draft budget, with a special focus on pensions.
Within this fund, the monthly bonus for pensioners is expected to double, at an annual cost of 20 billion lek. A further 1.35 billion lek has also been planned for pension indexation in April.
Education, healthcare and agriculture in the allocation of funds
A total of 93.6 billion lek has been planned for education, while healthcare will receive 87.2 billion lek. According to the government, the additional funds will be used for student scholarships, medicines, medical equipment and hospital infrastructure.
Agriculture has been allocated 17.9 billion lek. Meanwhile, defense is funded with 76.7 billion lek, while in the area of security additional financing has also been planned for the salaries of State Police employees.
201.5 billion lek for public investments
Public investments for next year are projected at 201.5 billion lek, or 6.9% of GDP. According to the government’s plan, the funds will be directed toward road infrastructure, ports, railways and public services.
For the 2027-2029 period, capital investments are intended to remain on average at the level of 6.6% of GDP. Alongside the draft budget, the government has also presented the 2027 fiscal package, with changes to some of the main taxes.
The draft enters review amid an opposition boycott
The presentation of the draft budget was accompanied by political clashes. The Democratic Party boycotted the Conference of Chairpersons, claiming that the draft law had not been made available to MPs in time.
The opposition also objected to the convening of the meeting, arguing that the 48-hour notification deadline had not been respected and calling for the procedures set out in Parliament’s Rules of Procedure to be followed. The draft is now expected to be reviewed in parliamentary committees, where the allocation of public funds and the fiscal package will be debated.
The weight of pensions and social protection makes the draft budget politically sensitive, while the real debate is expected to shift to how the funds will be distributed and how sustainable the government’s forecasts are for revenue, the deficit and debt.
It is precisely on these figures that it will be measured whether this is a financial plan supported by real foundations, or an inflated project on paper for parliamentary and public consumption.