IMF: Albanians, close down the loan schemes
Finance Minister Bode: It is difficult for companies to repay the loans
International Monetary Fund: Many families may lose their savings
The government is playing with the loan schemes
News about the danger that has been hanging over the savings companies has already begun to affect people. Many have given up putting their money in the firms, but not entirely. There are still many people who continue to invest money in the hope of making a profit. However, the government cannot stand by and do nothing. So yesterday at 11 o’clock an ultimatum was issued by international organizations. The IMF is calling for the so-called loan firms to be shut down. At the very least, the government says it will publish a report specifying company by company and their ranking, and, in any case, the government should do so by 15 October. Meanwhile, the IMF says many families may lose their savings, but it is better to withdraw from these schemes in the future.
Prime Minister Meksi has also ordered the tax administration to verify the situation of these companies as well as their tax payments. Finance, the Minister of Finance Arben Malaj [?] / Bode [?], has said that many of these companies are unlikely to repay the loans. For this reason, the government is under strong public pressure, which is demanding solutions from it.
The subject of yesterday’s talks at the Ministry of Finance was the tax system and relations with the IMF. Meanwhile, the main issue in the meeting was the problem of the firms collecting money. This matter was also raised at yesterday’s meeting Mr. Bode had with the IMF director, Audriçio Almunia [?], as well as in the conversation with the vice president of the World Bank for the Europe and Southeast Asia region, Basil Kavalski [?].
The issue could not be fully focused on only these matters if the problem of the loan schemes had not reached such large proportions. By now, almost no one doubts that the government is playing with the loan schemes. At least the opposition and the citizens have begun to react strongly, accusing it of helping to hide the way these companies operate and of hesitating to take drastic measures. If at first the silence of the state institutions was enough, later concrete intervention was requested. However, it is still unclear whether the government will decide on their definitive closure or on their control.
Yesterday, the publication of a full report on the situation of these firms was clearly requested, while the public was led to understand that there is no more time to lose.
Yesterday at the Ministry of Finance, the report submitters for Albania