Budget Debate: Serious increase in state-level administration planned!

(Patria) - A session of the House of Representatives of the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH is underway in Sarajevo, with the Bill on the Budget of Institutions and International Obligations of BiH for this year included in its agenda.

At the end of March, the Council of Ministers of BiH determined the Draft Budget Bill in the amount of 1.87 billion KM, which is about three percent more than the previous year. For servicing BiH's external debt, the budget provides almost 844 million KM, or five percent more than in 2020.

The budget allocates 21.7 million KM for the fight against the pandemic, and the Council of Ministers of BiH will prescribe the beneficiaries, purpose, amount, and method of using these funds through special decisions.

Otherwise, state institutions are functioning based on the Decision on Temporary Financing for the third quarter of this year, which was adopted because this year's budget has not yet been approved, and which must now be confirmed by both houses of the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH to enter into force.

During the debate, many objections were raised, such as the planned funds for the procurement of vehicles in various BiH institutions.

“The budget does not even include funds for the recovery of economic damages caused by the coronavirus, but rather 17 million is designated for the fight against COVID, and I fear that these funds will only be spent at the end of the year. I fear they will not be spent by the end of the year. The PDP-SDS club will not support the budget; more could have been saved,” said Mira Pekić.

Snježana Novaković Bursać (SNSD) believes that the proposed budget reflects reality.

“A small thing caught my attention regarding one item, it concerns the Directorate of Civil Aviation where the amount has been reduced. This is an institution that continuously faces the departure of professional staff, precisely because of salary amounts. We could reach a situation where we are a country that will not have civil aviation, if the Ministry of Finance can return funds through some reallocations or if an adequate solution is found for their work, which depends on financing,” said Novaković-Bursać.

Mirjana Marinković-Lepić (Naša stranka) pointed out that this budget shows an old trend – unthrifty spending.

“I would like us to have a structure of new employments. For years, the Appeals Review Office has been crying out for employees but cannot achieve it, so we have a disproportion between the number of employees and the resolution of certain appeals. More attention could have been paid to expenditures here. It seems to me that we waited for the worst of the pandemic to pass so we could expand. Naša stranka and NB will also not support the budget; we will try to resolve something through amendments, but the arrogant attitude towards budget money has continued,” said Marinković-Lepić.

She added that last year she also saw that state institutions lacked sensitivity during the pandemic.

Dragan Mektić (SDS), commenting on the proposed budget, said that according to it, the country is flowing with milk and honey.

“No problem has been specifically focused on, especially the economic crisis. This budget does not attempt in any way to influence the economic crisis and the decline we are in, it does not attempt to solve even the health problems,” said Mektić, adding that the budget is made to suit ‘us here, and absolutely does not concern the citizens’.

“The fact that the budget is being adopted now, after the third decision on temporary financing, speaks for itself, and perhaps there is no point in talking about this budget and how necessary it is, other than to realize additional employment in BiH institutions,” Mektić added, specifying that he sees a serious increase in state-level administration being planned.