Albanian government debt to businesses totals $246m

The Albanian government debt to businesses for unpaid public works until August 31 is estimated at 24.6 billion leks(246 million U.S. dollars), Finance Minister Shkelqim Cani said at a news conference on Wednesday. "My aim, not the government's pledge, is to clear the debt in a single tranche, not in several tranches, aiming at stimulating the economy," Cani said. "We are negotiating to take a loan to settle the debt to businesses, in order not use the budget money. Another possibility is to pay a part of the debt from the budget and later replace it with the loan we are negotiating," he said. "The largest portion of this debt, around 65 percent of 24.6 billion leks, has gone to infrastructure," Cani explained.