20 years ago we entered a tunnel built by the government, and we still haven't exited

The 902-meter-long tunnel through Karaula mountain on the Sarajevo – Tuzla road was opened. Political leaders in the Federation gathered and cut the ribbon, gave speeches slightly longer than the tunnel, and then returned to their daily pre-election activities. They spoke of successes, of 25 thousand employed people, of economic growth, of development everywhere, writes the Patria News Agency.  

But, after the opening, the tunnel was immediately closed. Then opened. Why was it opened if it was immediately closed? The opening was for the pre-election campaign, just like everything we've been seeing for the past month.

The symbolic and metaphorical opening of the tunnel was a message that only this government can lead us out of the tunnel into the light. At this gathering, there were also those few who metaphorically claimed that the tunnel was being opened by the same people who had 'buried' us.   

For a whole month now, we have been seeing openings, ribbon cuttings, and contract signings with foreign investors. Unfortunately, the economic reality that prevails before the elections and awaits us after the vote is completely different.  

Bosnia and Herzegovina recorded a decrease in economic growth in the first half of this year. GDP growth will amount to 2.8 percent by the end of the year, according to the World Bank's projections, which is 0.2 percent less than in 2015. But even that would be an encouraging GDP growth figure if it weren't for the usual increase in consumption after this government's increased borrowing. The reason for the decline is also the weak economy and the great pressure on the real sector.

The unemployment rate in 2015 was 27.7 percent, and this year it has decreased to 25.3 percent. It is unclear in which segments employment is occurring in the production sector. But even those figures are uncertain, as it is clear that we face enormous troubles due to the administrative burden in the state and public enterprises. 

Debt in many state-owned enterprises is out of control. Unpaid obligations and contributions alone in the Federation of BiH amount to more than one billion KM, while the situation is even more tragic in the RS.

BiH has borrowed significantly in the last three years. Public debt in the middle of the year amounted to 11.93 billion KM, which is 42.3 percent of GDP.   

Unfortunately, this debt is increasing enormously, without any parliamentary confirmation or accountability. Political structures, which direct the actions of the executive authorities, borrow according to their current needs. The recent borrowing of another billion marks from the IMF seriously increases the external debt by almost 4 percent of GDP.

We are in years where we have to repay annuities in the Federation alone of close to one billion KM, specifically 974.9 million KM this year. In the RS, next year will dangerously approach this federal annual annuity. Do we need to mention that every three months, both entities borrow by selling bonds, so this year, as never before, they borrowed almost 400 million KM each.  

If we add the new IMF loan of one billion and 50 million KM, the situation becomes serious. BiH is being asked for fundamental structural changes. These concern two of the most sensitive areas: public administration reform and social policy reform.

That opened and then closed pre-election tunnel carries a good message. The government in BiH is building the longest tunnel in the world. Since we entered it 20 years ago - we still haven't exited.