While oil in Albania has gone up to 210 lek per liter, the government responds by bringing out ministers to recite the same statements without taking any concrete measures.
The Minister of Infrastructure, Enea Karakaçi, after the meeting of the Council of Ministers, came out again today to tell citizens that the government is dynamically following the market.
"We are dynamically following the fuel market. What we have been following is a model of setting a ceiling price. This board, as announced yesterday, is there and can be created with a decision. We are seeing the problem in dynamics," he said.
It seems that field monitoring has not convinced the government that the price is expensive and unaffordable for Albanians. This may be the reason why it has not yet taken any measures to ease the burden on citizens.
There will be no intervention in the circulation tax either, which is seen by associations as one of the urgent measures that the government can take to reduce the price. But Karakaçi, to avoid the reason why there is no reduction, chose to respond with the words of the prime minister, contenting himself with explaining for the umpteenth time what this tax is for:
"The circulation tax is in all EU countries, but it is segmented, into circulation and vehicle tax payments. Collecting the circulation tax at the gas station is better, since the one who pays more liters of fuel has more taxes," said Karakaçi.
In short, as citizens face rising prices and their unbearable burden, the government continues to respond with lectures and explanations about how the market works. It dares not respond to the situation even as much as countries in the region have done.
