Employers have better solutions than the FBiH Government for inflation, demand consultations

SARAJEVO, (Patria) - The Employers' Association of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina sent a letter to the Government of the Federation of BiH requesting consultations regarding the Decree on the program of assistance to population categories particularly affected by inflation. The FBiH Government is expected to consider the decree at its session on Thursday, and the UPFBiH learned about its adoption from the media, although consultations with the Economic and Social Council for the Territory of the Federation of BiH are mandatory for adopting such decisions. The adoption of the Decree is problematic not only for formal-legal but also for substantive reasons.

The UPFBiH emphasizes that they consider the Decree a bad proposal and a cheap pre-election move by which the FBiH Government wants to gain cheap political points before the elections. If it wishes, the FBiH Government can adopt a decision to allocate funds from the budget to assist categories of citizens particularly affected by inflation.

The UPFBiH believes that the FBiH Government should create conditions for increasing all salaries by adopting new laws on contributions and income tax of the FBiH under an urgent procedure, which would increase salaries for all workers through tax and contribution reductions, representing a permanent systemic solution, not a one-time aid that is questionable from multiple aspects.

The FBiH Government's Decree is problematic, and there are a number of open questions related to its adoption. For starters, it is questionable whether the FBiH Government can, by its decision, derogate from the provisions of the valid Laws on Contributions and the Law on Income Tax in the FBiH?

The UPFBiH believes that conditions exist for adopting systemic solutions precisely through the adoption of laws on reducing taxes and contributions, especially considering that despite the crisis, we are witnessing double-digit growth in public revenues, both direct and indirect. The UPFBiH also has the principled agreement of the trade unions for such a solution. Due to all of the above, the UPFBiH believes that consultations between social partners on the FBiH Government's Decree are necessary, and if the ESC session for the territory of the FBiH is held, the UPFBiH will propose a decision that will be much better for workers, employers, and the FBiH Government.