Policies
According to the 2024 report by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Kosovo's economy remained "resilient" during Kurti's term, recording real GDP growth of 3.3% in 2023 and a projected 3.8% in 2024. The Swiss Federal Department for Foreign Affairs' economic report noted that, although the GDP growth had slowed down from 4.3% in 2022 largely due to weaker net exports, increased public investment and a further rise in remittances (14% of GDP) provided "positive momentum". After peaking at 11.6% in 2022, inflation averaged 4.9% in 2023. To mitigate the impact of high costs, Kurti's government introduced a fiscal support package worth 4.3% of GDP, including energy subsidies and price controls on petroleum products. Revenues grew by 9% to €2.86 billion (29.6% of GDP), while capital expenditures expanded by 40.8%. As a result, Kosovo recorded the strongest pace of fiscal consolidation among the emerging European economies, reducing the deficit to 0.2% of GDP and public debt to 17.5% of GDP, the lowest level in the Western Balkans. Under Kurti's administration, ICT services exports grew by nearly 36%, travel services grew by 17.7% and the agriculture sector grew by 3.3% in 2023.
Inflation decelerated further to 2% year-on-year in early 2024, while Kurti's fiscal policy was described as "prudent". The IMF noted that all program targets and structural reforms under Kosovo's Stand-By Arrangement were met, including improvements in tax compliance, public investment management and financial sector governance. Kosovo also received its first sovereign credit rating in 2023.
According to the IMF's 2025 report and the World Bank's 2025 report, Kosovo's economy actually grew by 4.4% in 2024, which was higher than the projected growth given a year earlier. Growth in 2025 was projected at 4% by the IMF and 3.8% by the World Bank, while inflation fell to 1.6% in 2024 before stabilising at around 2%. The fiscal deficit and public debt remained low due to the government's economic policies, supported by higher tax revenues and improved fiscal management.
In March 2025, Kosovo became an official donor to the World Bank's International Development Association (IDA) with a $1.4 million contribution, joining the community of 78 countries that both borrow from and contribute to the fund. This contribution was made possible by Kosovo's steady economic progress since its independence.
In 2021, Kurti's government faced Kosovo's biggest energy crisis since 2010, leading to the declaration of a 60-day state of emergency for electricity supply on 24 December. In July 2022, the United States granted Kosovo 236 million dollars for an energy project that would reinforce Kosovo's energy reserves through high capacity batteries of 170 megawatts (MWh), which would provide about 340 MWh of reserves.
In 2023, the government signed a €56 million agreement to modernise turbines at TC Kosova B, extending its lifetime and adding 30 MWh of production capacity without raising emissions and reducing the need for constant repairs. That same year, Kurti announced a 950 MWh renewable investment package, including plans for a 150 MWh wind farm and a 100 MWh solar farm. Climate-related damages in 2023 cost the state €28.9 million and affected 21,500 people, prompting commitments from Kurti's government to cut greenhouse-gas emissions by 36% by 2030.
However, one of the most controversial aspects of the Kurti's administrations on the energy sector was the opposition of the Kosova e Re power plant project, a major coal-fired power station, whose plan was first presented in 2009 in order to address Kosovo's energy needs in the long term. The Kosova e Re project had been negotiated by the previous government under former Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj with the British company, ContourGlobal, and would have been the largest foreign direct investment in Kosovo's history. It also announced by ContourGlobal that the power plant would create around 10,000 jobs during the construction phase and greatly improve the air quality by reducing the harmful emissions coming from the old coal-fired power plants into the atmosphere. In March 2020, one month after the formation of the government under Kurti's leadership, ContourGlobal announced the abandonment of the Kosova e Re project, citing a lack of political support. While this was praised by environmental groups and civil society groups fearing a raise of energy bills by up to 50 percent, energy analysts criticised the cancellation, arguing that it eliminated an important future source of electrical energy capacity and increased Kosovo's dependence on electrical energy imports. In addition, the government of Kosovo also lost the arbitration case to ContourGlobal over the cancelled project and was ordered to pay compensation for the cancellation of over 20 million euros.
Despite the cancellation of the Kosova e Re project, electricity prices still rose during Kurti's administration. In April 2025, Kosovo experienced a 16.1% increase in electricity tariffs as it is forced to import more power to meet domestic demand. Prior to this general rise, households consuming over 800 kWh per month, had already faced a sharp increase, with tariffs above this threshold being raised by approximately 103 percent.
In 2024, at the Summit on the Green Agenda for the Western Balkans, Kurti announced that his government's comprehensive energy strategy was aimed towards making Kosovo carbon neutral by 2050, and that this strategy was supported by the government's recent laws on climate change and renewable energy sources. However, substantial investments would be required for energy transition, waste management and transport decarbonisation. In that same year, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) noted that Kosovo's Resilience and Sustainability Facility (RSF) has supported the government's green agenda, including the first competitive auctions for solar and wind generation, as well as preparations for carbon pricing and measures to enhance energy efficiency, air quality and energy security. Additionally, in January 2025, Kurti announced the launch of battery-based energy storage systems – 125 MWh under the Kosovo Energy Corporation and 45 MWh under KOSTT. These facilities, to be built in Ferizaj and Istog, would stabilise the power grid, reduce import costs, improve supply reliability and enable greater integration of renewable sources.
During the 2021 election campaign, Kurti had promised vetting and the reform of the justice system. After his victory in the elections, the Kurti government brought the file on vetting and justice reform to the Assembly of Kosovo on 4 September 2022. In 2023, the Assembly of Kosovo approved Kurti's Law on the State Bureau for the Verification and Confiscation of Unjustified Assets, following a positive opinion from the Venice Commission in 2022. The law foresaw that public officials, their family members and related third parties may have their assets reviewed, and in cases where a discrepancy of more than €25,000 is found between legal income and property, the Bureau can refer cases to the courts for confiscation. The Bureau was to be led by a director elected by the assembly for a five-year term, with confiscated assets to be managed by the Agency for the Administration of Seized or Confiscated Property. While the law was supported by the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK), the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) announced it would challenge it and send it to the Constitutional Court.
As Prime Minister, Kurti reformed Kosovo's Agency for Prevention of Corruption (APK), which has now provided the Ministry of Justice with the means to investigate corruption and prosecute criminals. Since Kurti first became Prime Minister, Kosovo's Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) score has progressively increased from 36 in 2020 to 44 in 2024, meaning that corruption has declined during his term, and Kosovo currently ranks as the 73rd least corrupt country in the world. According to a survey carried out by the GAP Institute in 2023, 62% of Kosovo's citizens believe that corruption has decreased since Kurti came to power.
According to a 2024 analysis by the Group for Legal and Political Studies (GLPS), Kurti's second government demonstrated stronger political will to tackle corruption than previous administrations, and introduced numerous reforms to this end. It also promoted greater transparency through digitalisation of procurement and administrative processes. However, GLPS noted that progress has been slow, with implementation hampered by institutional resistance, weak enforcement capacities and political obstacles, particularly in the judiciary. According to the GLPS, while Kurti has set an ambitious anti-corruption agenda, its impact has been limited, reflecting both the constraints of Kosovo's institutions and the lack of broad parliamentary consensus necessary to push through deeper reforms.
In June 2024, the OSCE published a trial-monitoring report on organised crime and corruption cases in Kosovo, based on 52 cases and 670 hearings held between July 2021 and March 2024. The report acknowledged several positive developments under Kurti's government, including the adoption of the 2021–2026 Strategy on Rule of Law, the 2022–2024 Strategic Plan for the Effective Solution of Cases of Corruption and Organised Crime, and the March 2023 signing of a Joint Statement of Commitment by key stakeholders. At the same time, it highlighted persistent problems, such as high acquittal rates, delays, poor case management and inconsistent judicial practices. Minister of Justice Albulena Haxhiu stated at the report's launch that the government had completed the anti-corruption legal package, approved the Law on the State Bureau for the Verification and Confiscation of Assets and established new regulations on whistleblower protection, while also preparing an anti-corruption task force and joint investigation team. The OSCE report concluded that while the government has advanced the legal framework, the judiciary still faces serious challenges in effectively adjudicating high-level corruption cases.
In early 2025, Kurti repeatedly ignored summons from the Special Prosecution in Pristina to testify as a witness in a case concerning the alleged misuse of €600,000 worth of state reserves by other politicians, of which Kurti was not personally involved in. While prosecutors insisted he appear in person, Kurti stated that he was willing to testify only from his office, accusing the prosecution of politicisation and stated that, if his testimony was that important, the prosecution would have approached him at his office. Kurti believed that the Special Prosecution was, in his words, more interested in filling the front pages of news articles rather than actually bringing about justice.
Kurti has doubled Kosovo's minimum wage since he first took office. After remaining unchanged for 13 years, Kosovo's minimum wage was raised to €350 gross per month, effective from 1 October 2024 onwards. Until then, Kosovo had the lowest minimum wage in the Balkans, set at €130 for workers under 35 and €170 for those over 35. The increase was enabled by a new law adopted in July 2023 and upheld by the Constitutional Court in June 2024, which allowed the government to set the minimum wage without mandatory consultation with social partners. The government initially proposed an increase to €264 in 2022, but that proposal was blocked for more than one year by the opposition and was then sent to the Constitutional Court, where it was delayed for another 11 months. Kurti's government considered that amount to be inadequate considering the time lapsed, and subsequently decided on €350. The Ministry of Finance estimated that the rise would benefit around 150,000 workers, particularly in the private sector and low-wage sectors such as gastronomy and construction, while the GAP Institute calculated that employers would collectively pay an additional €12 million monthly. Tax rates were also changed alongside the increase in minimum wage; previously, monthly incomes from €80 onwards were taxed, but Kurti's new law legislated that no tax would be imposed on monthly salaries of up to €250. The tax rate for salaries ranging from €251 to €450 is now 8 per cent, whilst for salaries over €450, it is 10 percent.
In September 2021, around six months after taking office, Kurti's government introduced Kosovo's first universal child benefit and extended maternity support to unemployed women. Under the scheme, all children aged 0–2 became entitled to €20 per month, while a phased plan gradually expanded a €10 benefit to children aged 2–16, reaching those aged 2–7 as early as November 2021. By that point, 68% of eligible infants and 58% of children aged 2–7 were already receiving payments. Unemployed mothers became eligible for six months of maternity benefits at €170 per month, equivalent to the minimum wage, though the requirement of at least one year of prior unemployment drew some criticism. Although critics raised concerns about potential "productivist" goals and risks of incentivising long-term unemployment, the measures were widely regarded as a significant improvement in Kosovo's social protection system, particularly for lower-income households. In 2024, the government increased the universal child benefit. Each child would now benefit from €20 per month until the age of 16, whereas if a family has 3 children or more, they will benefit from €30 a month for each child.
In May 2024, Kurti's government launched a pilot of a reformed social assistance scheme, developed with support from the World Bank. The new program replaces the old model, which had excluded families once their children turned five or if any member earned even minimal income. Under the reform, eligibility is based on a poverty test, ensuring support for households with less than €100 per member per month, while also introducing incentives for beneficiaries to seek formal employment. Alongside this, the government reported that since the beginning of their term in 2021, over 400,000 children and 55,000 mothers had benefited from child and maternity allowances, around 100,000 women opened bank accounts for the first time, and over €100 million had been allocated to support pensioners and vulnerable families, including subsidies for electricity bills for more than 60,000 households.
In October 2024, Kurti's government raised all pensions by 20%, covering more than 300,000 beneficiaries. This included raising the basic social pension from €100 to €120, contributory pensions ranging from €182–€265 to €218–€318 depending on category, and targeted increases for blind and paraplegic/tetraplegic beneficiaries. A further 20% rise for war-related categories was scheduled for January 2025.
In late 2024, Kurti's government adopted the 2025–2030 Health Sector Strategy, which was formally approved in February 2025, which pledged universal and equal access to healthcare for Kosovo's citizens. This was also packaged with a new health security action plan, developed with WHO and co-financed by the EU, which sets out long-term measures for public health emergency preparedness and response.
Kurti has stated that they have made progress in the fight against organised crime during his first two years in power, from 2021 to 2023. According to the figures published by the government, Kosovo Police have arrested over 3800 people for serious criminal offences, including over 300 public officials. 16 drug laboratories have been broken up, nine of them in North Mitrovica. In cooperation with Montenegro and North Macedonia, illegal roads have been closed along the respective borders. 24 illegal roads have also been closed in North Mitrovica which were used for smuggling, trafficking and illegal border crossing by organised crime structures.
The Kurti government has increased the budget for the Ministry of Defence. In 2017, the budget for the Kosovo Security Force was 51 million euros.
In 2022, the budget increased to 102 million euros and in 2023, it increased to 123 million. 153 million euros have been allocated for 2024. The Security Force has purchased six drones from Turkey, known as Bayraktar, and has concluded several other agreements for the purchase of armaments. New recruits have also been added to the Kosovo Security Force, increasing the number of soldiers.
The U.S. government approved a potential sale of hundreds of Javelin anti-tank missiles to Kosovo for an estimated cost of $75 million. Kosovo has requested to buy 246 Javelin missiles and 24 lightweight command launch units, among other items. Meanwhile, Serbia says it is disappointed with possible US sale of anti-tank missiles to Kosovo. President Aleksandar Vučić, said that Kosovo should not have an army because this violates international law. Serbia continues to consider that Kosovo is part of its territory.
On 27 November 2024, Prime Minister Kurti signed the decision to initiate procedures for the establishment of the defence industry of the Republic of Kosovo. Later, on 16 December 2024, Kurti announced that he had signed an agreement with the state-owned Turkish defence industry producer MKEK for the operation of a factory in Kosovo for the production of ammunition and unmanned aerial vehicles.
