BiH receives €250 million loan in macro-financial assistance

SARAJEVO, (Patria) - Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers of BiH and Minister of Finance and Treasury Vjekoslav Bevanda signed today a Memorandum of Understanding between the European Union and Bosnia and Herzegovina, which enables BiH to receive a loan for macro-financial assistance in the amount of 250 million euros.

This memorandum is signed on behalf of the EU by European Commissioner for Economy Paolo Gentiloni, and on behalf of the Central Bank, as the borrower's agent, the signatory is Governor Senad Softić. Given that this is assistance for multiple levels of government, the Memorandum was confirmed and supported by the finance ministers of both entities and the mayor of Brčko District.

Minister Bevanda emphasized that the goal of the EU macro-financial assistance is to mitigate the consequences of the crisis caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, and it comes in addition to other resources the country has received from other international financial institutions as support for economic stability.

„The funds from this loan will be disbursed in two tranches, each amounting to up to 125 million euros, and the disbursement of the first tranche is expected after the entry into force of the Memorandum and the accompanying credit line agreement, which we also signed. That agreement regulates the procedures for disbursing assistance to BiH,“ explained Minister Bevanda.

He added that BiH had been negotiating this loan for a long time because all internal procedures and the coordination mechanism during decision-making had to be respected.

„The most important thing is that we have successfully reached an agreement among all of us within BiH, and it is acceptable to the EU, and the continuation of activities is prescribed by this memorandum as well as our legal borrowing procedures,“ emphasized Minister Bevanda.

With this Memorandum, in accordance with previous decisions of the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union, macro-financial assistance in the amount of 250 million euros in the form of a loan has been made available to BiH.

After the signing, which, due to epidemiological measures, was completed correspondently and without ceremonies, Minister Bevanda thanked the EU for its readiness to help Bosnia and Herzegovina in this extremely challenging time and congratulated all participants on the successfully concluded negotiations.