Member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) Milorad Dodik at the last session, unprovoked, put on the table amendments to the Law on the Central Bank of BiH, which were rejected by two other members of this institution, Zeljko Komsic, and Sefik Dzaferovic.
Dodik’s proposal gives the Central Bank the opportunity to operate in the money markets, including all types of securities. It is particularly interesting that “issued money” can only be used to purchase debt securities in the money markets issued by the state, or its two entities.
Although the Presidency of BiH can initiate the adoption of the law, specifically initiate the procedure, it is an interesting moment when Dodik puts this law on the agenda. In a statement after the mentioned session, Dzaferovic said that Dodik’s proposal was put on the agenda without notice, without material with a short and concise explanation.
”An hour before the session, we received a bill amending the Law on the Central Bank. Dodik’s story about the use of the Central Bank’s reserves is well known. This is not how it is done. The proposal has one page of text and one page of explanations,” Dzaferovic explained.
It is clear from the explanation that in this way Dodik is trying to acquire a part of the foreign exchange reserves, which currently amount to 800 million BAM, and which the Central Bank earned by investing the required reserves on the international markets.
This is another attempt by the Republika Srpska (RS) authorities to take the funds needed to finance debts and their cumbersome public apparatus, after exhausting probably all possibilities for borrowing. Therefore, in the election year, Dodik desperately needs money, especially in a situation when the European Union (EU) is blocking his infrastructure projects due to his destructive policy, undermining state institutions, and blocking their work.
In previous years, Dodik borrowed heavily from commercial banks, but as his liquidity and solvency weakened, these sources became increasingly inaccessible to him. He later turned to international sources, but even that passed ingloriously.
The latest messages from the EU are clear. Without a complete return to state institutions, the cessation of destructive policies, the withdrawal of anti-state laws, and conclusions that undermine both peace and the Dayton Peace Agreement, Dodik will remain deprived of hundreds of millions of BAM.
This move by which he is trying to extract money from the Central Bank should also be seen in such a framework.
E.Dz.
Source: Klix.ba
