The Social Democratic Party of Bosnia and Herzegovina (SDP BiH) prepared a proposal to amend the Law on Excise Duties and sent it to the parliamentary procedure under the urgent procedure in order to mitigate the consequences of the economic crisis in BiH.
The head of the Caucus of SDP BiH delegates in the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH (PABiH), Sasa Magazinovic pointed out that the mentioned legislative proposal envisages the abolition of excise duty on fuel, depending on the type, up to 45 pfennigs compared to the current price of 2.71 BAM per liter.
Referring to the chronology and dynamics that accompanied the adoption of the Law on Excise Duties in 2017, he reminded that in three years about 3.6 billion BAM had been collected in the name of excise duties, and stated that if this amount had been used for the purpose of building the road infrastructure, as it was then announced, BiH could have built two highways.
The money was collected, but not spent where it should have been, he said, recalling that oil and petroleum products are a very important factor in setting market prices.
According to him, a reduction in fuel prices would lead to a chain reaction and a reduction in other prices, which would significantly mitigate the consequences of the enormous price increases that BiH citizens are facing.
Damir Masic, head of the SDP BiH delegates’ Caucus in the Federation of BiH (FBiH) Parliament, also pointed out the measures that need to be taken in order to mitigate the negative effects of the current crisis, recalling that in March 2021, this Caucus proposed to the House of Representatives of the Federal Parliament a law limiting the price of the margin to the retail prices of oil and petroleum products.
He also referred to an additional set of measures – the Draft Law on Minimum Wage, the Draft Law on Amendments to the Law on Pension and Disability Insurance, and the Draft Law on Electricity, which the SDP BiH insisted on last year.
”Back then, we tried to mitigate the blow to the citizens of BiH, which was already in sight,” Masic stated, noting that, according to the proposals, the intention was to increase annual pensions in line with the growth index of basic foodstuffs, ”which would result in a significant increase in pensions in the FBiH.”
E.Dz.
Source: BHRT
