The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) decided to pay the second tranche of the extended arrangement with BiH.
With the conclusion of the review, BiH received a total of 63.4 million USD (about 74.6 million EUR or 145 million BAM) within the EFF, with which the total amount of funds is 126.8 million USD (149,3 million EUR or 290 million BAM), as announced by the IMF.
Tao Zhang, the Deputy Director and Acting Chairman of the Executive Committee, noted that BiH continued making progress in the decrease of internal and external imbalances in the last couple of years.
“The authorities have implemented economic politics and structural reforms within the program that supports the IMF, including fiscal discipline, financial stability and improvement of the overall business environment. It is very important for the authorities to continue their efforts in the process of strengthening their potential for growth and resolving structural weaknesses, with the maintenance of economic and financial stability,” noted Zhang.
It was also emphasized that the progress was achieved in the implementation of structural reforms, including the harmonization of tax laws between entities as well as the improvement of corporate governance in state-owned companies. It was expected that the recent increase in the excise duties on fuel will release external financing for large investment in the infrastructure, which will encourage further growth.
“In the future period, the authorities should continue their efforts on the improvement of business environment with the reforms of the labour market and the reduce of parafiscal imposts. Budgets for the year of 2018 foreseen a continued decrease of a total expenditure regarding salaries in regards to GDP through the process of general freezing of salaries and restrictions in the process of employment. They urged the authorities to continue with reforms regarding the people employed in the public sector, including functional reviews. The savings achieved on the total expenditure regarding salaries should be directed towards capital expenditures that are encouraging growth,” noted Zhang.
(Source: klix.ba)
