If BH authorities delay the adoption of legislation on increasing the excise tax on fuel, including liquefied petroleum gas and biofuels, BiH will not receive the second tranche of the loan in accordance with the standby arrangement of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in the amount of 155 million BAM.
“Additional revenues on this basis would be directed to public enterprises in order to ensure sufficient funding for projects of highways, which are the largest public investment projects in the country and crucial for boost of growth and new workplaces,” explained the resident representative of the IMF in BiH, Francisco Parodi.
Speaking of what are other conditions for the second tranche of the IMF loan, Parodi mentioned failure on adopting amendments to the Law on Excise, and stated that during the recent IMF mission authorities pledged to increase the rate by 15 fenings per liter on fuel and oil derivatives.
Parodi noted in the introduction that these are series of measures which can release the second tranche.
“Entity authorities obliged to adopt the budget for 2017, which will be fully financed and increase the efficiency of government and redirect resources from current spending on much-needed public investment in infrastructure. The RS authorities obliged to adopt amendments to the Law on Corporate Income Tax, which will be complied with the Law on Income Tax in the FBiH. Complying of laws is important because multiple provisions and inconsistent regulations represent an obstacle to investors,” stated Parodi.
Thirdly, said Parodi, the authorities of FBiH obliged to sign contracts with reputable international consultants on the implementation of financial and operational thorough evaluations (due diligence) for the company “BH Telecom” and “HT Mostar” for their restructuring or selling their shares.
“This is the ultimate goal to improve the efficiency and profitability of these two companies. According to the EBRD, the market value of the two companies is decreased every year. The government of FBiH is the majority owner of these companies, in other words – the citizens of the FBiH are their majority owners. Therefore, it is necessary to stop the trend of decline in their value. Also, it is important to say that, in comparison with neighboring countries, BiH is poorly ranked in terms of communication infrastructure,” said Parodi.
(Source: fokus.ba)
