Although all relevant macroeconomic data will not be available for a certain period of time, the Governor of the Central Bank of BiH (CBBiH) Senad Softic noted that a positive macroeconomic movement was recorded in BiH in the year of 2017 in comparison to the previous year. Besides the increase of foreign exchange reserves, the collection of indirect tax revenues and exports were increased, and according to the survey of labor force, the decrease of the unemployment rate was recorded as well. However, he stated that some important changes still cannot be expected.
“According to the latest projections of the International Monetary Fund, the expected growth of GDP for the year of 2017 amounted to 2.5 %. We cannot expect any significant changes in the standard of living with this growth rate. Without structural reforms, which will further increase the economic potential and its utilisation that will result in faster increase of economic activity, we cannot expect faster convergence in living standards at the level of EU, as well as regional countries,” stated Softic.
He also expects the increase of economic activities this year, but noted that the intensity will depend on the implementation of reforms from the economic agenda, the recovery of the Eurozone as the main trading partner of BiH, as well as overall trends in global markets.
“We need to improve the ambience for stronger investment flow. There are numerous factors that affect the stability of foreign investment inflows, including phases in the global investment cycle, the competitiveness of domestic sectors and business ambiance in BiH. The influx of investments is definitely influenced by political situation in our country. I believe that it is necessary to direct resources on the economic development of our country, the process of European integration and fulfilment of the requirements of the Reform Agenda. However, we should not forget the fact that this is the election year and that it is very possible that the focus will be rather on political than economic issues, and therefore, there is a possibility that not everything will be conducted with the desired dynamics,” stated Softic.
He also added that the Central Bank will implement the chosen regime of the monetary policy, fulfil the obligations from the law and active participation in all processes and thus fulfil its mandate in accordance with the Law on CBBiH. He stated that the CBBiH, in the macroeconomic context, is very important stabilisation factor in the economic space and that it contributes to the better reputation of our country.
(Source: A. Z./Klix.ba)
