Public investments included in the August 2026 report have only achieved 34% of the operating budget. Of the estimated 158 billion lek in funds, actual expenditures amount to 53.8 billion lek, leaving over 104.2 billion lek (1.1 billion euros) still unspent.
Official data from the Ministry of Finance shows that roads account for the largest share of expenditures, while railways and civil emergencies have much lower levels of implementation. Major defense projects also account for a significant share of unspent funds.
The Albanian Development Fund, the institution with the largest budget, has realized 7.8 billion lek out of the projected 29.6 billion lek, or only 26.4% of the annual program.
The Albanian Road Authority has a higher realization, of 50.9%, as this entity's expenses in the first 8 months amount to around 12.5 billion lek, against an annual budget of 24.5 billion lek.
Together, these two institutions have about 33.8 billion lek in unspent funds, or approximately one-third of the total difference between the annual program and the actual one.
Detailed data from the treasury of the Ministry of Finance show that at the program level, the road network has actual expenditures of 17.3 billion lek, representing about 32% of all expenditures incurred in the 8-month period.
Of the investments in infrastructure, the situation is the weakest in railway transport. From a budget of about 5.9 billion lek, expenditures of only 540 million lek have been recorded, or only 9.2% of the annual program. Urban waste management also has a very low realization of only 16.2%.
The National Civil Protection Agency, as an institution, also has a particularly low level of implementation. Actual expenditures are around 32 million lek, against a budget of 2.34 billion lek, or only 1.4%.
A large part of the funds is linked to projects for which no expenses have been recorded. The data processing results in 1,353 projects with a programmed budget and zero actuals. Their total budget amounts to about 69.5 billion lek, or 44% of the total.
The largest projects that have not been implemented belong to the Ministry of Defense and the combat forces, such as the purchase of a combat patrol ship, with a budget of 3.2 billion lek, medium-range air defense batteries, with 2.8 billion lek, the purchase of a UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter, with 2.85 billion lek, and a medium-range missile system, with 2.43 billion lek.
The current level of investment spending suggests a strong accumulation of state budget spending at the end of the year. Full implementation would require average spending of about 26.1 billion lek per month during September-December. This pace would be approximately 3.9 times higher than the average of the first eight months./ B. Hoxha
