FROM BEĆIROVIĆ'S CABINET Kršo: The practice of blocking the adoption of the Budget has been stopped

(Patria) - At today's 8th extraordinary session of the BiH Presidency, the proposed Law on Amendments to the Law on Salaries and Allowances in BiH Institutions, submitted by BiH Presidency member Denis Bećirović, was unanimously adopted. At the same time, the adoption of the Budget for 2023 strengthened the state institutions. This is the first budget increase in almost a decade, over BAM 240 million, i.e., over 20% compared to the previous budget.

This is a law that directly and specifically prevents the increase of income for the highest officials in the institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2023, starting with the members of the BiH Presidency, while the salaries of civil servants and employees are being adjusted upwards unimpeded in accordance with the adopted proposal of the Law on the BiH Budget for 2023.

In other words, with the adoption of the Budget for 2023, which provided for some of the highest increases ever for the Defense sector (almost 30% increase compared to the previous year), the practice of blocking the adoption of the Budget, which characterized the previous mandate period and which enabled the unimpeded functioning of key state institutions, has been stopped. This has enabled an increase in income for the army, police officers, civil servants, and employees who are receiving an income increase in absolute terms for the first time in more than a decade, unlike other levels of government.
However, the same draft also provided for an increase in the income of the highest officials in Bosnia and Herzegovina, after they had already received significant increases in the previous budget.

Bećirović is resolutely against such an outcome, and through concrete institutional action, he has offered the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina a solution to freeze the income of such officials without blocking the adoption of the BiH Budget. In the deep conviction that both houses of the Parliament of Bosnia and Herzegovina will recognize the specificity of the current situation in our country and the social conditions of our citizens, we hope that they will support Dr. Bećirović's proposal to freeze the income of the highest officials, and increase the income of soldiers, police officers, and employees, thereby reducing the unfair gap between them, said Mirza Kršo, advisor for economic affairs to the member of the BiH Presidency Denis Bećirović, in a statement.