Šarović: We asked for the fuel price increase not to apply to farmers, but it was not adopted

The Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina at today's session supported the adoption of an increase in excise duties on oil, oil derivatives and heating oil by 15 feninga per liter, and the Draft Law on Amendments to the Law on Excise Duties will soon be considered by both houses of the BiH Parliament, writes Patria.

If these laws are adopted in both houses of Parliament, it means that BiH has fulfilled all conditions to withdraw a new tranche from the IMF, but also that fuel in BiH will increase by 15 feninga per liter.

State Minister of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations Mirko Šarović said that ministers from the Alliance for Change, Minister Igor Crnadak and himself, did not support the Draft Law on Amendments to the Law on Excise Duties in BiH.
Šarović said that he supports BiH's reform path and infrastructure development, but asked that after the introduction of the new 15 feninga per liter of fuel, assistance to farmers be provided concurrently, but that this has not been honored so far.

- With the new levy of 15 feninga, and without an additional plan, farmers will find themselves in a very, very difficult situation – said Šarović.

- In this regard, we have repeatedly, in discussions with representatives of the IMF and the Government of Republika Srpska, requested the introduction of the category of blue diesel, or that farmers be helped in some other way, but none of that has been honored.

We also proposed two additional models: that a portion of this amount of 15 feninga, three or four feninga, be allocated directly to the entity budgets and that this money be given to farmers to mitigate the consequences of the SAA, or that these 15 feninga of the new levy do not apply to farmers. But clearly, there was no understanding from the IMF and the Government of Republika Srpska – said Šarović.