The mission of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) headed by Nadeem Ilahi visited Banja Luka and Sarajevo to talk about recent economic developments and policies for the first review under the Extended Arrangement with BiH.
At the end of the visit, Ilahi said that the IMF assessed the results in the context of program aims that are set for the end of December 2016 and talked about progress in the field of structural reforms.
“The mission was encouraged by the adoption of reasonable budgets of entities and institutions of BiH for 2017, adoption of the Law on Banks in both entities, the changes and amendments to the Law on Profit Tax and Banking Agency and the abolition of contributions for solidarity in the RS. However, the authorities need more time to resolve the open issues in order to fulfill remaining measures,” noted Ilahi.
The IMF specifically expects that the Parliamentary Assembly adopts an increase in excise taxes on fuel and amendments to the Law on Insurance of Deposits, the Council of Ministers of BiH to adopt the Decision on the limit on new employment in the institutions of BiH in 2017, the Parliament of FBiH to adopt amendments to the Law on Banks and the Government of FBiH to start thorough evaluation of the value (due diligence) for BH Telecom and HT Mostar.
“The mission is hoping for strong progress regarding the implementing of these measures in parliaments in the upcoming days, in order to create the conditions for the Executive Board of the IMF to consider the first preview by the end of April 2017,” as announced from this financial institutions.
(Source: klix.ba)
