A house for a vote? Soft loans for the administration before the elections

In March of this year, as the country entered the fever of the May 11 parliamentary elections, the government announced a "relief" program for public administration employees. A loan with 0% interest, on the condition that beneficiaries do not resign for the next five years.

1980 applications were registered for this scheme by employees of 12 public institutions, according to official data from the Ministry of Economy, Culture and Innovation. On paper, a social policy to improve access to housing. In reality, a dubious intervention in the middle of the campaign, with elements of electoral pressure.

This "gift" on the eve of elections constitutes a direct subsidy that creates an immediate financial advantage for administration employees.

Throughout 2025, the state budget will spend about 50 million lek to finance this program, a calculation made taking into account the average payments for subsidizing the interests of past loans. What makes the government's real interest in the state administration doubtful is the fact that this call was announced only 2 months before the parliamentary elections, on March 11, adding to the suspicions that it may have been made to influence the group of public sector employees, who are a segment with electoral weight.

This “facilitative” loan taken out by public administration employees forces the latter not to request resignation for the next five years, because the loan is converted into commercial, thus increasing the interest rate. The mechanism of converting the loan into commercial creates a direct financial dependence, which limits economic freedom and mobility in the labor market.

"This constitutes a structural economic barrier that hinders professional autonomy and keeps employees tied to the institution. In the long term, this reduces productivity and labor market competitiveness, and potentially increases informality due to the obligation to remain in ineffective positions," said economic expert Eduart Gjokutaj.

The main criteria for an employee to benefit from the facilitated loan are: not having a residence in his or her name or that of his family, not having real estate or not currently being a beneficiary of social housing programs, according to point 15/1, article 2, of Law No. 22/2018, "On Social Housing", as amended.

“Under market conditions, the real interest rate for such loans is usually 4–8% in Albania, which means that employees directly benefit from thousands of euros in savings for each loan. This constitutes privileged economic differentiation of a group of voters associated with the public sector, which has the potential to influence their electoral behavior.” – says Mr. Gjokutaj.

The Council of Ministers, in decision No. 468, dated 26.7.2023, determined all the criteria that a public administration employee must meet to benefit from the concessional loan, and if the employee meets them, he may lose the right if he does not find housing within a year.

"The employee, beneficiary of the public administration, who has not found the apartment within 1 year from the date of publication of the winning list or when he has not been qualified by the financial institution as suitable to conclude the loan contract, loses the right to benefit from the facilitated loan," the VKM states, among other things.

Through a request for information addressed to the Ministry of Economy regarding this call, this institution responded that the facilitated loan program for public administration, that is, those who hold the status of civil servant, or have an employment contract without a specified term.

"The total number of applications at the close of the application process was around 1980 for 12 beneficiary institutions" - MEKI stated in the official response.

The Electoral Code in Article 91, point 4, states: “Four months before the election date until the formation of the new government after the elections, the proposal, approval or issuance of legal or sub-legal acts, which provide for the granting of benefits to certain categories of the population, such as acts that provide for… economic or social support, is prohibited.”

The program was announced on March 11, within the prohibited deadline, but laws are often violated with both feet by presenting programs as "social goods."

"We are dealing with a distortion of the correct behavior of the state in the electoral campaign. The Central Election Commission, through its monitoring structures, should have identified, verified and taken the relevant decisions provided for by the electoral code." - says Afrim Krasniqi, director of the Institute of Political Studies.

This program could have been presented to public administration employees months before, or a few months after the elections, but its presentation at this time comes as a clear message of indirect pressure on the public administration electorate./ Citizens.al