Chairman of the Council of Ministers of BiH Denis Zvizdic and his deputy and Minister of Finance and Treasury of BiH Vjekoslav Bavanda met with the Head of Mission of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Nadeem Ilahi regarding the continuation of credit arrangement and implementation of already started reforms.
At the meeting was concluded that all the obligations from the letter of intent were not fulfilled, but that there is still time to continue about 1.1 billion BAM worth arrangement, of which the first tranche in the amount of 150 million BAM was already paid.
Chairman Zvizdic noted that everything that was the obligation of the Council of Ministers was done and that he believes that there is a possibility to complete the remaining legislative changes that are foreseen by the letter of intent on time.
Head of the IMF Mission to BiH Ilahi stated that, due to delays in the implementation of reforms based on the Letter of Intent, the board cannot discuss the continuation of the arrangement and the second tranche before the end of April this year, and that they should use this time to meet the remaining obligations.
Chairman Zvizdic and Bevanda emphasized that the implementation of reforms in several areas is unquestionable since the new arrangement with the IMF is based on reforms that will give results in the future, but that everyone must be committed to being part of this reform process.
It was emphasized that they need to find the best solution in order to change the Law on Excises as soon as possible, as well as legislative changes in regard to the Deposit Insurance Agency of BiH because it is part of a package of reforms in the banking sector that is carried out by the entities.
The IMF mission is visiting BiH until the 16th of March this year and they will talk with the Entity governments and representatives of relevant institutions.
(Source: fokus.ba)
