Parliament of FBiH supports budget revision, new budget 14.3 million KM larger than the old one

Deputies in the House of Representatives of the Parliament of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina supported the federal budget revision proposed by the FBiH Government.
The new federal budget amounts to 2,348,412,392 KM, which is 14.3 million KM more than the budget adopted at the end of March this year, reports the news agency Patria.

The budget revision was supported by deputies from SDA, SBB, and HDZ BiH. Deputies from the Democratic Front, the Social Democratic Party of BiH, and the Croatian Democratic Union 1990 voted against the proposed revision.

The revision was ultimately adopted with 60 votes "in favor", 23 against, and three abstentions.

Federal Minister of Finance Jelka Miličević assures that the budget is well allocated. She claims it has been reduced in certain areas where the Government assessed reductions were possible, such as 13.7 million KM saved due to a ban on hiring in the public sector until the end of this year, while some areas, like incentives for youth employment, received more funds. All of this, the authorities believe, should ultimately contribute to economic growth in the FBiH.

The opposition criticizes that the Government constantly spoke of savings in the Federation regarding expenditures, but the total budget ultimately increased by 14.3 million KM.

Dženan Đonlagić from the DF also criticized that the revision came late, as it should have been done by the end of June this year, not nearly four months later. The opposition also dislikes that the 200 million KM shortfall in the federal budget will be covered by loans from commercial banks.

Of the total 2,348,000,000 KM, which is the federal budget, about 40 percent of the money already goes to repaying debt and interest, and the new debt of 200 million KM announced by the Government will only be an additional burden on the Federation's economy, Đonlagić warned.

The budget revision was also supported yesterday by the House of Peoples of the PSFBiH, reports Patria.