In the past month, the arrival of the diaspora in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) has been noticeable. Official data show that the income from the diaspora is higher than that of foreign investments.
In the summer, everything somehow comes alive when the diaspora arrives. More money is left in BiH and it seems that life is better for a moment. This is best described by employers who have their hands full these days.
“I must say that it is felt in all segments, in all service activities. Different languages are heard in the background, from all sides. It is nice to look at, crowds everywhere, you can feel the life. I mostly notice through conversations that they are there physically, but their soul and heart is here. Everyone somehow longs for those elderly days, to come with a pension and to live here,” says Ljubica Jurisic from a hair salon in Tuzla.
And it is not true that they leave their money here only because it is cheaper. As they say, they prefer to leave their money here in their home country. Zehra Buljubasic, who lives in Sweden, likes to buy everything in BiH.
“We are very happy. We live and work there, but our heart and soul is here. We work to come here and spend the annual vacation with our families and friends. Of course, I am glad to leave the money I earn here in our homeland,” Zehra stated.
According to official data of the Central Bank of BiH, in the first four months of this year alone, 793.58 million BAM were paid into the accounts of citizens of BiH from abroad, which is almost fifty million more than last year. Also, last year, money from the BiH diaspora reached three and a half billion BAM.
For the sake of comparison, in 2022, foreign investments in BiH amounted to slightly more than one billion BAM, which is significantly lower than the amount of remittances sent by the diaspora to the accounts of citizens, that is, families.
The arrival of the diaspora in BiH and their connection with BiH is a huge boon for the local economy, and it is even more significant that they see BiH, from which many have given up, as a place where it is still worth leaving and investing money, Biznis info reports.
E.Dz.
