In response to the increase in the cost of living, the Government of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FBiH) launched the campaign “We lock prices” on December 15th last year, in which about 30 stores are participating.
In agreement with employers and consumer associations, price increases for a total of 40 foodstuffs, such as oil, flour, rice, and hygiene products, are limited until mid-March.
An elusive consumer basket
The minimum wage in the FBiH is 619 BAM (about 310 euros), and the average is about 1.300 BAM (about 650 euros). Almost 300.000 pensioners receive a minimum pension of 538 BAM (about 270 euros).
However, the total monthly expenses of a four-member family, according to the Trade Union’s calculations, amount to more than 2.880 BAM. Of this, the most money, about 40 percent, should be allocated for food.
‘Populism’ or systemic measures?
BiH does not have unified and synchronized measures that would protect residents in both entities equally from rising living costs.
The two entities adopt measures separately, and a similar campaign as in the FBiH was carried out in the Republika Srpska (RS) at the end of last year when the margins were removed from around 50 products.
Zijad Dzafic, an economic analyst and university professor, says that these are “populist measures”, while those that would bring real benefits to the citizens are absent because there is no political agreement on them.
“What they are doing are not measures that will help the citizens. If they want, they can do it through fiscal and social policy. We continue to pay the same tax on basic foodstuffs and medicines, which pensioners and poor citizens buy every day, as well as on luxury goods, such as whiskey and caviar, which are bought by those with high salaries,” Dzafic points out, Slobodna Evropa reports.
E.Dz.
