The first houses purchased by the beneficiaries under a soft housing loans program for young families of doctors, servicemen and State Police officers are already opening their doors.
Prime Minister Edi Rama, accompanied by the Minister of Interior Taulant Balla, visited the house of a State Police inspector, one of the beneficiaries, who are eligible to the mortgage subsidy program launched most recently as a direct support and commitment to providing decent and quality appreciation for the contribution and service from this workers group.
“I had checked out this apartment before I received the loan, but it was almost impossible to buy it at the market prices,” police inspector Vionis Shehu said.
Prime Minister Rama also touched on some of the benefits that State Police employees are entitled to. “We pondered it for a long time and now we created this voucher system. Vouchers will be provided to every family of police officers. So the vouchers will be mainly used by the women, they go to supermarkets that have signed contracts with the Ministry of the Interior and buy staples at a discount. For those types of vouchers the discount is 10-15% according to the products. As the State Police Director already noted, in addition to the monthly salary, this would be translated into food worth of 100, 000 lek per month. However, the purchase value is even higher. A significant wage hike is planned to enter into force next year. State Police workers, general practitioners and teachers will receive really a significant pay rise in 2024. The average wage for state administration employees will surge to 900 euros a month. One shouldn’t forget that comparing a salary in one country to the corresponding one in another country is one thing, but what goes home is another. Let’s say there is no big pay difference between the Albanian police officer and the German one if the income taxes, the rent cost and the transport are subtracted,” the Premier said.
During the conversation with the police inspector’s family, the PM also touched on this year’s tourist boom as well as the contribution of State Police to this achievement. “We actually had three times the population living in Albania this summer, we recorded a tourism boom. The tourists were more than thrice the number of inhabitants in Albania, a very large number to be managed, however we have the potential for much more and step by step we will succeed, even with the help of the police who have set a new security standard to be honest, because to our surprise the surveys with these foreign tourists showed that they were impressed by the high level of security,” PM Rama said.
Extending the new home wishes, the government head also availed himself of the opportunity to express also his wishes to Shehu family for a joyful and happy New Year.
The mortgage subsidy program, which is being implemented for the first time in Albania this year, has been made available through specific legal changes and will be handled via the web-based e-Albania platform in collaboration with second-tier banks, is designed to help to make home ownership more affordable by providing zero interest rate loans to the eligible categories. The interest rates will be fully subsidized by the state budget.
This year’s initiative will help an initial group of 300 police officers, health workers and Armed Forces members with subsidized housing programs and it will continue next year in a bid to best meet the needs of people working at a great distance from their place of residence or need more spacious housing environments.
