Bevanda: SDA requested the decision on the loan from the IMF to be made based on the Law on Borrowing

SARAJEVO, (Patria) - The Ministry of Finance and Treasury of BiH has fulfilled the necessary technical conditions for the transfer and payment to beneficiaries of around 330 million euros from a special credit program of the International Monetary
Fund (IMF) intended to help combat the Covid-19 pandemic, but it cannot be realized because the decision of the Council of Ministers of BiH was not made at today's session. The Council of Ministers of BiH was supposed to adopt the decision on accepting the borrowing from the IMF within the Rapid Financing Instrument (RFI) this morning, but during the vote, there was no support from the present ministers of Bosniak nationality, and it was not possible to complete all the necessary procedures for the money to be paid into the account of the Central Bank of BiH, the Ministry of Finance of BiH announced today.

According to the decision of the IMF Executive Board, made last night, BiH was approved a loan to help fight the coronavirus in the amount of 265.2 million SDR, which is about 330 million euros, with an interest rate of 1.05 percent and a grace period of 39 months.

The Minister of Finance and Treasury of BiH, Vjekoslav Bevanda, stated that all activities that were within the competence of the Ministry of Finance and Treasury of BiH were completed immediately, and the money could have been allocated to the accounts of the entity governments tomorrow, in accordance with the distribution agreed upon in the Letter of Intent signed by all members of the Fiscal Council in BiH.

The Letter of Intent stipulated that the Federation of BiH would receive 62 percent of these funds, and Republika Srpska 38 percent, with each entity having to set aside and pay 0.5 percent to the account of the Government of Brčko District. Also, it was agreed that 50 percent of the funds allocated to the FBiH would be distributed to the cantons so that they could adequately respond to the consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Minister Bevanda expressed regret that the ministers from SDA did not support the decision of the Council of Ministers, which was adopted on the same principle in all previous arrangements and always had the support of the cadres of this political party.

Minister Bevanda considers the request of the ministers from SDA that the decision on accepting the credit arrangement with the IMF be made based on the Law on Borrowing, Debt, and Guarantees of BiH to be unacceptable and unfounded, as it is not a classic borrowing and the decision was never made in this way with the IMF in previous arrangements, but it was exclusively financing based on membership in the IMF and the quotas we have there.

Voting against the decision and insisting on proceeding with procedures that would prolong the entire borrowing process for several months and would not be legally based, in the opinion of Minister Bevanda, is a clear indication that not everyone was guided by good intentions when they signed the Letter of Intent, in which all dilemmas were resolved and an agreement was reached to complete this process as soon as possible.

Minister Bevnda emphasized that he is satisfied that the Ministry of Finance and Treasury of BiH, as on every occasion so far, has professionally completed its part of the work and will continue to insist and work exclusively according to the law and for the benefit of everyone in BiH.