The Council of Ministers of BiH was introduced with the information of the Directorate for Economic Planning on changes in macroeconomic indicators for January – June 2016, which confirmed the continuation of the trend of economic growth in BiH.
Thus, the economy in BiH in the first half of this year recorded a real growth by more than 2 % in comparison to the same period last year, exports had a nominal growth of 5.7 % on an annual basis in the second quarter, industrial production increased by 4.6 %, followed by increasing number of employees in the context of BH industry. Number of employees in BiH in May 2016 was increased by 1.6 % compared to the same month of 2015, and it amounted to 724,800. The number of unemployed persons in June 2016 was decreased by 4 % and it was 518,000.
During the month of June 2016, about 292 million BAM of revenues was collected on the basis of VAT , which is about 25 million or even 9.2 % more than in June last year.
In the first half of 2016, BiH recorded an increase in total foreign trade, exports and imports, and decrease in the trade deficit, while the export-import ratio was improved when compared to the same period last year. Total BH exports of goods in the first six months of 2016 amounted to over 4.5 billion BAM, which represents an increase of almost 3 % in nominal terms compared to the same period last year. When observed by main trading partners and blocks during the first half of 2016, export to the EU countries amounted to 3.3 billion BAM, which is an increase of 5.6 %. Total BH imports of goods in the first half of 2016 amounted to about 7.7 billion BAM, which represents an increase of 0.8 % in nominal terms compared to the same period last year.
Total BH foreign trade deficit in the first half of 2016 amounted to almost 3.2 billion BAM and it decreased by 2.1 % compared to the same period last year.
The Council of Ministers of BiH, on the proposal of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of BiH, defined three proposals basis for negotiations for conclusion of the Agreement on Cooperation between the Council of Ministers of BiH and the Republic of Macedonia, between the Council of Ministers of BiH and the Government of Montenegro and between the Council of Ministers of BiH and the Government of the Republic of Serbia in the process of accession to EU.
The Council of Ministers of BiH, on the proposal of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, has approved the Procedure of work of the Commission for NATO integration process of BiH with adopted suggestions at the meeting.
The session also adopted the Work Plan for the period June – December 2016, which contains activities that the Commission for NATO integration process of BiH will implement in the second half of this year.
Previously, they adopted the Report on the work of the Commission for NATO integration process of BiH for the period September 2015 – May 2016.
(Source: klix.ba)
