Kozarić: Today we paid 18 million KM into the budget, and 380 million KM since 2004!

At today's press conference of the Central Bank of BiH, Governor Kemal Kozarić stated that BiH had a gross domestic product growth of 2.4 percent in 2014, but that this is still insufficient for citizens to feel any improvement, writes the BiH news agency Patria.

- Although the year did not start as we expected, we believe we can justify this rate due to the continuation of electricity exports, as well as the progress being made in food production, timber and wood product exports, and the continuation of Corridor 5C construction – said Kozarić.

The Governor also added that an election year can be an incentive for all decision-makers in this country to make efforts in 2014 to make the year better.

Presenting the work report of the Central Bank of BiH for 2013, Kozarić said that the bank paid about 18 million KM into the BiH budget today, or 60 percent of the bank's total profit for last year, which amounted to about 30 million marks. Kozarić said that this exceeded the bank's planned profit.

- From 2004 to 2014, the Central Bank of BiH achieved a profit of about 728 million KM, and from that, it paid about 380 million KM into the BiH budget. Although we are not a profit-making organization, as our primary task is monetary and financial stability, we have still managed to achieve a noteworthy result in such difficult conditions – explained Kozarić, Patria reports. All this, despite no new employment since 2010, and a significant reduction in the operating costs of the CBBH.

When asked by journalists about the potential consequences for BiH if the arrangement with the IMF were to be terminated, Kozarić stated that he had direct talks with IMF representatives a few days ago.

- The arrangement between BiH and the IMF has not been terminated. The doors are still ajar. And as far as I know, some reforms have already been implemented. A new meeting of the IMF Executive Board should be held on April 25. However, if even one entity does not accept the reforms, the arrangement will be terminated – said Kozarić.

Speaking about the problems between certain banks and clients in BiH, Kozarić said that non-performing loans in BiH amount to as much as 15.1 percent, which is far above the regional average. However, his only advice would be for citizens to carefully review contracts before signing them with banks.

The new website of the Central Bank of BiH was also presented at today's conference, which will assist economists and analysts with macroeconomics.