Novalić: Without the FBiH Budget, there will be no road construction or resolution of veteran issues

SARAJEVO, (Patria) - Fadil Novalić, Prime Minister of the Federation of BiH, hopes that the FBiH Parliament will adopt the Budget for the next year by December 31, writes the Patria News Agency.

Given that it is evident that Bosnia and Herzegovina, i.e., BiH institutions, are entering the new year with temporary financing, Novalić hopes this will not happen at the Federation level either.

- There are talks regarding the state-level Budget, as there is a considerable asymmetry in the coalition at the state level, and one never knows what current coalition will form, like with excise taxes, to push through that Budget. I believe the FBiH Budget will be adopted because we worked on it for a long time and incorporated a large number of remarks, and in my opinion, there are two more significant things for which the Budget must be adopted: capital investments are very visible for the first time, with 183 million KM allocated solely for roads out of a total of 252 million, which has never happened before.

Never, apart from social benefits, have other budget items exceeded 6 percent; now, capital expenditures alone are 10 percent. Secondly, the agreement with the veterans that we signed can only be guaranteed by the Budget; I don't believe anyone, in my opinion, would dare to gamble with such important issues – Novalić stated.

He emphasized that political issues are fertile ground to show how we, as a society, are not progressing.

- Unfortunately, the Election Law is a tough bone in our throat. I would rather focus on more optimistic things, despite the fact that we will have difficulty passing laws. For example, the adopted excise taxes enable us to invest in infrastructure and boost economic growth to 4.5 percent. To continue increasing exports and, in general, to have more optimism in our society. But, of course, there are elections, and they bring to the surface issues that we cannot resolve. I am sure we will get stuck on that. We all know that constitutional changes are needed, even the Dayton Agreement needs to be changed, as it is the basis of our Constitution, but these are issues that I believe we can hardly resolve – Novalić added.