prijava
SARAJEVO, March 1 (FENA) - Professor at the Faculty of Economics in Sarajevo, Aziz Šunje, said in an interview with FENA that political crises have negative impact on the BiH economy on all grounds.
“One of the basic impact is reduced interest of foreign investors to invest in the BiH economy, even if they cooperate with our business entities. The second basis is the diminished interest in any kind of entrepreneurial activity of our people. The third basis is the departure of young and capable people who would be able to contribute to the economic development of our country, and the fourth is to create a sense of hopelessness in the country,” added Šunje.
He stressed that the priority of political and economic activities would have to be improvement of the business environment, and there is no good business environment in the conditions of political crisis.
According to him, there is no doubt that the current political blockages negatively affect the international reputation of our country.
“We are becoming the black hole of Europe. A negative international reputation and the present political crises through a decline in economic activity will, of course, result in a further collapse of our credit rating,” said Šunje.
BiH has a negative foreign trade balance since the export-import ratio is around 60 percent.
“With the termination of the work of Aluminij, which was our largest exporter, this situation is further complicated. Customs tariffs when it comes to exports to Kosovo, and quotas for steel exports (steel as one of the most important export products from our country) create additional pressure to reduce exports. The prospects in this regard are not great. Our focus should also be on reducing imports as a measure to balance our foreign trade balance. There is a large number of imported goods (such as water) that we have in sufficient quantities on the domestic market. Actions such as 'buy domestic' are one of the measures to decrease imports,” said Šunje.
The negative impact of coronavirus on the global and therefore on our economy is already present, commented Šunje.
“In my opinion, it is not possible to see what consequences coronavirus will have on the world and our economy. One of the possible scenarios is a significant disruption in economic flows on the global and, therefore, at the level of the BiH economy in the longer term,” professor Šunje told FENA.
(FENA) A. B.
