Public expenditure planning in Albania

This paper looks at public expenditure planning in Albania, presenting and analysing the first two post-communist era Medium-Term Expenditure Plans (METPs) that have been introduced by the Albanian government for the periods 2000-2001 and 2002-2004, respectively. Albania's medium-term macroeconomic perspectives and elements of fiscal decentralisation, as incorporated by the Local Government Law of Albania, are presented, too. It is found that, taking into account the first years of post-communist governance, both METPs provide an improved framework for the budget drafting, i.e. for a realistic macroeconomic and fiscal planning of public expenditure and a clearer linkage of government policies with public expenditure plans, thus showing better the priorities in public expenditure.