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Kosovo writes off old debts for citizens, businesses

Xinhua, February 6, 2015 Adjust font size:

The Kosovo authorities decided on Thursday to write off the old debts of citizens and businesses as part of an attempt to ease poverty and boost economy in Kosovo.

"Writing off the debts will be a stimulation for the economy," said Kosovo Prime Minister Isa Mustafa.

Finance Minister Avdullah Hoti said the measure will be applicable to households and also businesses, which includes the debts up to 2008.

"We agreed to form a committee that will assess the possibility for writing off all the debts that businesses and citizens owed to the institutions of Kosovo and public enterprises until Dec. 31, 2008," said Hoti.

Hoti said the decision covers debts which are owed to Kosovo Tax Administration, Kosovo Customs, taxes on property and debts to public utilities such as for energy, water, heating.

In addition, Hoti said that the authorities will reconsider the possibility for writing off also the debts after 2008, in order to have a new beginning for Kosovo.

However, he did not reveal any estimation of the total number of people that could benefit from the decision or the amounts resulted in the writing-off. Enditem