prijava
SARAJEVO, March 4 (FENA) - BiH Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance and Treasury Vjekoslav Bevanda received today Head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Mission to BiH, Martin Petri, to discuss stalemate of reforms and problems of interim financing of BiH institutions.
Minister Bevanda emphasized that the current political situation in BiH is in a state of crisis again, although at the beginning of the new term, very important decisions in the area of investment and economic development were adopted at the session of the Council of Ministers of BiH.
Talking about current events, Minister Bevanda emphasized that the crisis began after the decision of the Constitutional Court of BiH that provoked political reactions, and since February 14 this year, any work has been hampered even though BiH is facing the growing problem of illegal migration and the threat of coronavirus while the country is on interim financing.
“Yesterday, we addressed the Decision on temporary financing for the second quarter of this year to the General Secretariat of the Council of Ministers, because the current one expires on March 31. Only ten days ago, we received a budget request from the BiH Presidency to finalize the draft budget for this year, and it will be technically closed these days and put into the procedure,” Minister Bevanda said.
The officials stated at the meeting that interim financing carries risks and that this is not a sure step towards a new arrangement with the IMF, but also for other projects, since the institutions of BiH were on interim financing in 2019 as well, which prevents investments.
The interlocutors agreed that a new program with the IMF would be an incentive for reform and new investment.
It has been pointed out that estimates of economic growth worldwide are slightly lower than planned due to the negative effects of the emergence of coronavirus and illegal migration, while in BiH frequent political crises affect negatively on economic estimates.
They highlighted the priorities for a possible future co-operation between BiH and the IMF, referencing the new law on deposit insurance, the allocation of VAT revenues and other obligations that are the responsibility of the entity governments.
Apart from Minister Bevanda's associates, IMF Resident Representative in BiH Andrew Jewell also attended the meeting, the BiH Ministry of Finance and Treasury announced.
(FENA) A. B.
