”It is obvious that the primacy of political reforms is present in the public space, above all those on the way to the European Union (EU), which is not bad in itself, it will have great economic effects for the economy and citizens, but it is necessary to ensure a balance between economic and political reforms, ” said economic expert Anto Domazet.
He stressed that “we have a very unfavorable moment for reforms, as radical as the fiscal reform”.
”This is a time of low economic growth, we are on the brink of recession, and by definition, it is not a time to undertake major economic reforms. The time of prosperity, the time of high economic growth is the time when such measures are taken,” explained Domazet.
Fiscal reform, he said, needs to be carried out in the most sensitive way and with the maximum possible caution in such unfavorable circumstances.
”The Government of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FBiH) made a concession to the economy by giving an opportunity for six months to make payments up to the amount of 2,520 BAM without paying the corresponding obligations, but the question is what will happen after that. How to proceed, because obviously, we cannot expect these reforms to be carried out this year. For me, the question is whether 28.5 percent is the optimum to which the load for contributions is reduced, when in most of the previous discussions there was talk of 32.5, 31.5 percent. It is better to make reforms in several steps than to radically increase the reduction rates at once and thereby question, with even greater doubt, the level of public revenues for the pension system, for health, for unemployment insurance, etc,” he stated.
As he stated, it is necessary to open a public debate on these issues as soon as possible.
”The atmosphere is so electrified, there are high expectations and that is not good, parallel to the process of online fiscalization, we need to come forward with the texts of new laws and with the measures that are proposed in order to really settle this issue in the best way in a democratic debate,” concluded Domazet, Biznis Info reports.
E.Dz.