Because the money was given to the poor, bypassing the usual bureaucracy, it did some good.[6] The Italians also contributed greatly to infrastructure, agriculture, and chrome and hydrocarbon exploration in which Albania was rich. The Italians hoped that extensive investment in Albania would bring both economic and political benefits. Despite a weak domestic economy, Mussolini guaranteed the Albanians the sum of 22 million pounds over five years for economic development, considerably more than the 8.2 million Rome had spent since the early 1920s.