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Rama: VAT on 54 basic foods to drop from 20% to 6% as 2027 budget tops 10 billion euros for the first time
The prime minister presented the 2027 draft budget, which was sent to Parliament on Wednesday. He said cutting VAT on meat, fish, eggs, flour, fruit, vegetables and baby food would leave families about 150 million euros a year.
By ANN Newsroom · Newsroom
October 28, 2026, 13:38 · Updated 18:43 · 2 min read
In brief
- VAT on 54 basic food products is proposed to fall from 20% to 6%.
- Rama says the 2027 state budget passes the 10 billion euro mark for the first time.
- Pensions will double their increase every year until the end of the term, the prime minister says.
Prime Minister Edi Rama on Wednesday presented the main measures of the 2027 draft budget and the 2027–2029 medium-term budget program, documents that were sent to Parliament the same day for review and approval. The most talked-about measure is a cut in VAT on basic foods.
54 products at 6% VAT
According to Rama, the VAT rate will fall from 20% to 6% for 54 products, including meat, fish, dairy, eggs, flour, oils, sugar, pasta, fruit, vegetables and basic baby foods. The prime minister estimated that about 150 million euros a year, which families now pay the state through the 20% VAT on these goods, will stay in their household budgets.
To keep retailers from swallowing the cut, the government says it will expand and strengthen the practice of price boards for the basic basket, so the lower cost is protected from large-scale abuse.
A budget above 10 billion euros
Rama said the state budget passes the 10 billion euro threshold for the first time in history, which he called a sign of a growing economy. He said gross domestic product has reached 30 billion euros, up from about 10 billion ten years ago, and that public debt has fallen to a historically low level.
The prime minister also promised that pensions will double their increase every year until the end of his fourth term, which he said pensioners will see with the first payment of next year. He acknowledged the pressure that fuel and food prices put on the cost of living. “We want as many rich people in Albania as possible, because the problem is never the rich, but the gap,” Rama said, adding that “whoever earns more pays more.”
