Both entities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Republika Srpska, are planning significant new borrowing through loans and bonds in 2026, although they are already repaying a debt of more than 6.3 billion euros.
The Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina intends to issue Eurobonds of up to 800 million euros on the London Stock Exchange, while the Republika Srpska is planning additional loans from Chinese banks and the World Bank for infrastructure projects.
Delegate Vibor Handžić from the Others Club in the DN PFBiH says: “The Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina is not even close to the percentage of indebtedness, as are other levels of government and neighboring countries. The Federation has a favorable credit rating. The Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina is not threatened by these debts, this type of debt is also planned in the FBiH budget.”
On the other hand, the planned loans of the Republika Srpska include guarantees for debts from Chinese banks in the amount of 299 million euros for the construction of two sections of the highway. SNSD MP Aco Stanišić claims: “Sometimes borrowing is good, sometimes it is bad, it all depends on the purpose for which we use it. If we use loans to expand the highway network, infrastructure, in any case, that is commendable.”
However, opposition PDP MP Slaviša Marković warns: “I think that the RS government is slowly falling into debt slavery with these loans and we will see, in addition to these direct loans that directly rely on the RS budget, how much they have indebted the citizens of RS at this moment.”
Economist Prof. Dr. Sanel Halilbegović assesses that there are more favorable options: “Why borrow on the London Stock Exchange at an interest rate of 6 percent? That is a huge percentage, because BiH has a relatively weak credit rating of somewhere around B+/B3, therefore it has to offer a higher yield on bonds in order to be competitive.”
Official data shows that the debt per capita in the Republika Srpska amounts to more than 6,000 BAM, while in the Federation of BiH it is almost 3,000 BAM, which further raises questions about the sustainability of new debt.
