Bevanda and Nelson on the budget: No salary increases for soldiers, police officers since 2012

SARAJevo, (Patria) - Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers of BiH and Minister of Finance and Treasury Vjekoslav Bevanda received today the Ambassador of the United States of America (USA) to BiH Eric Nelson with whom he discussed the adoption of the budget of BiH institutions for this year and the implementation of reforms.

Minister Bevanda informed Nelson about the activities being conducted in the Ministry of Finance and Treasury of BiH on the preparation of the budget for this year in order to complete this task in the first quarter, as temporary financing is in effect, which limits the operations of institutions in terms of capital investments. It was emphasized at the meeting that there is a need for additional employment in the BiH Border Police, which is facing challenges of illegal migrations, but there has been no legal basis for it so far.

Minister Bevanda pointed out that since 2012, there have been no salary increases for soldiers, police officers, and other employees in BiH institutions, which is why he proposed that the base salary be increased by 4.5 percent, or that it be returned to the level from seven years ago. The interlocutors agreed that the adoption of the Reform Program is a good start for the new convocation of the Council of Ministers of BiH and that it is encouraging that items for which there has been no agreement for a longer time are also on the agenda.

In this regard, Ambassador Nelson welcomed today's adoption of the Strategy for Combating Human Trafficking in BiH for the period 2020-2023 by the Council of Ministers of BiH.