SARAJEVO, March 27 (FENA) – Since the establishment of the Federation of BiH, this will nominally be the largest budget ever, as it amounts to 5.6 billion KM and is higher by 116 million KM or two percent compared to the previous year, said in an interview with FENA the FBiH Finance Minister Jelka Milićević.
In the coming days, both houses of the FBiH Parliament are expected to comment on the proposed budget, and Minister Milićević points out that its growth for this year is due to the fact that all government projections plan higher revenues this year, totaling at 4.471 billion KM, of which 2.218 billion KM are revenues from contributions, 1.692 billion from taxes, and the rest relates to other non-tax revenues.
“Of the total amount of revenues, tax revenues account for 83.5 percent. The missing funds of 16.5 percent, or 920 million KM, are short-term and long-term sources of financing. In our budget, we used the reserves we had, about 208 million KM, which refers to the accumulated surplus from previous years and special funds in sub-accounts, which are earmarked funds for the construction of road infrastructure.
Therefore, we have created the preconditions to control the situation in a certain way when we do not have international financial institutions as partners in the source of financing, to keep going with all government policies related to capital investments,” Milićević points out.
“Some will say that such a structured budget with six percent of capital investment expenditures is a socially-oriented one. That is partly true, but not to the extent that it was in 2015, when this government started its mandate and when capital investments accounted for only about one percent. Today we have reached a very sustainable draft of six percent,” the Minister emphasizes.
Also, in the proposed budget, 30 million KM is planned for the purchase of firefighting aircrafts. In the sector of labor and social policy, the government opted for the adoption of the law on support for families with children, for which KM 50 million will be provided this year, and the law on foster parents, for which 17.5 million marks are planned. It is also planned to adjust and increase pensions with an additional 102 million KM in this year’s budget.
In this year’s budget, the government also expressed its commitment to balanced regional development, which is why transfers to lower levels of government have been defined. So far, funds from the IMF have been transferred to lower levels, and since there is no arrangement with the IMF this year, the government has used its own reserves and transfers to counties will be 200 million KM, and to municipalities, they will be increased to 36 million KM.
At the end of the interview, she said that the FBiH has a sufficient stock of goods, and that any increased demand from citizens for certain goods results in rising prices, regardless of whether there is a shortage of these products or not.
