Federation Parliamentarians to Discuss 2023 Budget Today

The House of Representatives of the Parliament of the Federation of BiH will hold its first regular session today to consider the proposed federal budget for this year.

The budget of the Federation of BiH, proposed by the Government of the Federation of BiH, amounts to 6.7 billion KM and is more than 1.1 billion KM higher than last year's budget.

One of the key priorities in planning budget funds for this fiscal year was to ensure stability in the payment of pensions, veterans' and social benefits, and other payments envisaged by the budget of the Federation of BiH.

The largest increase relates to pension payments under several different legal grounds, amounting to 665 million KM.

An increased allocation of financial resources is planned for the Federal Ministry for Affairs of Veterans and Disabled Veterans of the Defense-Liberation War for pension payments based on the Law on Early Favorable Retirement of Defenders of the Defense-Liberation War, in the amount of up to 22.2 million KM. The current transfer for disability benefits is planned at 278 million KM, an increase of 6.3 million KM.

For persons with disabilities – non-war invalids, 160 million KM is planned, which is 18 million KM more compared to 2022.

For the implementation of the Law on Parent Caregivers in FBiH, 28 million KM is planned, an increase of 10.5 million KM, while the transfer for the implementation of the Law on Material Support for Families with Children in FBiH amounts to 106 million KM, representing an increase of 56 million KM compared to the fiscal year 2022.

Incentives for agriculture amount to 160 million KM, which is an increase in subsidies for private companies and entrepreneurs by 54 million KM compared to the previous year.

Subsidies for private companies and entrepreneurs are also planned in the amount of 178 million KM, which is 57.6 million KM more than the previous budget.

The Committee on Economic and Financial Policy of the House of Representatives has already considered and adopted the FBiH budget for this year under an urgent procedure and proposed that it proceed to further parliamentary procedure.

In addition, conclusions were adopted, including a recommendation to the Government of the Federation of BiH to adhere to the 2013 census when distributing financial resources in the amount of 200 million KM to the cantons, as before, and the Committee will seek a statement from the House of Representatives on this conclusion.