After a marathon of countless discussion and debates, starting from yesterday at 10 am and ending at 2:05 after midnight, the Albanian parliament approved in principle the project budget 2018 with 75 votes of the majority, while 47 opposition deputies voted against and 17 abstained.

The voting passed through many mutual accusations between the majority and the opposition, with Democratic Party chairman Lulzim Basha appealing to the parliament not to approve the budget, saying it favoured drugs money laundering.

In his presentation of the project budget, Premier Edi Rama said the economic indexes speak about a good climate in 2018 when it is predicted an economic growth of 4 percent.