Budget Debate: 950 Million is Too Much for the Sidewalk Coalition

The Bill on the Budget of BiH Institutions and International Obligations for 2017 is on the agenda of the House of Representatives of the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina today.

According to procedures, the bill was submitted to parliamentary procedure by the BiH Presidency, and the budget amounts to 950 million KM and is in line with the global fiscal framework from 2017 to 2019.

In addition to the functioning of state institutions, capital expenditures include the allocation of funds for the permanent resolution of the accommodation of state institutions in order to reduce rental expenses.

Funds for all these facilities will be secured from the clearing debt of the Russian Federation in the amount of about 22 million KM, and the financing of the Bratunac - Ljubovija border crossing construction project is partially planned from these funds.

The total external debt for 2017 is slightly more than a billion, which is about 240 million KM more compared to this year. Of this amount, the obligations of the Federation of BiH are 650 million KM, Republika Srpska 350 million, Brčko District of BiH 6.2 million, and BiH 5.5 million KM.

Dušanka Majkić (SNSD) stated during the debate that fierce debates are being held on this topic in other countries.

- It was sad to listen to the attempts of two people in the Finance and Budget Committee to defend political positions. We are now seeing the budget in the tenth month of next year when it will be too late for everyone. Money from current reserves is not spent according to the law. There are no areas that should be invested in as a priority, and there is no effective way to control these funds - Majkić stated.

She also made remarks on the Budget restructuring item.

- MPs receive a vague amount of money, and later it is restructured as it suits the institutions. We are not giving any importance to this significant topic at all - Majkić stated.

Vjekoslav Bevanda, Minister of Finance of BiH, pointed out that the BiH Presidency is the proposer. He chronologically outlined the procedure for proposing the Bill on the Budget of BiH Institutions and International Obligations for 2017.

- What is good is that we worked hard in the Ministry and skipped all the complications that have been going on for years, initiated the collection of clearing debt, which we will collect in full. We will direct them to capital investments - Bevanda stated, adding that he is glad that they do not know better than this.

Saša Magazinović (SDP) pointed out that this is a budget with a framework of 950 million KM. He stated that he will not request a break due to the fact that the proposer is not present.

- What the current budget proposer, SDA, said a few years ago, I quote, was 'a budget frozen at 950 million that will jeopardize the work of state institutions, it is a budget that attacks the state and its Euro-Atlantic path. A budget that will stop investigations into organized crime and corruption, that it is the end of the Armed Forces, that it is the weakening of the state and the strengthening of entities, etc.' and then the same SDA proposed this same budget of 950 million, which suits them perfectly today. Of course, I also think that this suits them perfectly, because for this sidewalk coalition, whose largest infrastructure project is a 50-60 meter sidewalk, even 950 million is too much - Magazinović stated.

He added that at the time, the SDA stated that 'a budget of 950 million puts BiH in a wheelchair'.

- The difference is that SDA was in opposition then and is in power now, so they will support it. We said back then that 950 million was enough and that it couldn't be spent. You will see that 95 percent of the Budget was executed last year. Back then, the story was that Nikola Špirić went to Banja Luka, that Dodik wrote the budget, and that we adopted it as such. I am now asking if Milorad Dodik wrote this one too? - Magazinović stated.