SBiH reports Sarajevo Canton budget for 2026 to Anti-Corruption Office: Disputed revenue projections and debt

(Patria) - The Cantonal Board of the Party for Bosnia and Herzegovina (SBiH) Sarajevo has filed a report with the Canton Sarajevo Anti-Corruption Office due to, as they state, serious discrepancies in the proposed KS Budget for 2026 compared to the opinion of the Federal Ministry of Finance.

The report was filed ahead of the 28th working session of the Sarajevo Canton Assembly, scheduled for December 29, at which the budget for the next year is planned for consideration.

SBiH points out that the FBiH Ministry of Finance, in its opinion dated December 10, 2025, provided revenue projections that significantly differ from those stated in the KS budget proposal by the KS Ministry of Finance, even though the Law on Budgets in FBiH stipulates mandatory harmonization of the cantonal budget with federal projections.

According to the report, the federal ministry estimated planned revenues from indirect taxes at KM 593.8 million, while in the KS budget proposal, they were increased to KM 700.4 million. A similar difference was recorded for income tax, where the federal projection is KM 361.4 million, and the cantonal is KM 456.4 million, as well as for profit tax.

Total planned revenues according to the opinion of the FBiH Ministry of Finance amount to KM 1.51 billion, while the KS budget proposal states revenues of KM 1.62 billion. At the same time, expenditures increased from KM 1.36 billion, as stated by the federal ministry, to KM 1.55 billion in the KS budget proposal.

Particularly disputed, according to the report, is also the issue of debt. The KS Ministry of Finance planned receipts from domestic and foreign borrowing in the amount of KM 311 million, which is an increase of almost KM 200 million compared to the draft budget. At the same time, the Law on Budget Execution and accompanying documents state different and mutually inconsistent amounts of planned borrowing, including those from the opinion of the KS Legal Affairs Directorate.

"The question arises as to which amounts are correct and what was actually submitted to the FBiH Ministry of Finance, and what to the KS Assembly," the report states, requesting that the Anti-Corruption Office determine the actual situation.

SBiH warns that the KS Budget is conceived with, as they state, unrealistic revenues and high credit debt, which could increase the total debt of Sarajevo Canton to over one billion KM.

Finally, the party emphasizes that the budget inspection operates within the KS Ministry of Finance, which is why they believe it is necessary for the Anti-Corruption Office, with the assistance of the federal ministry of finance, to conduct an independent and objective analysis of the entire budget material.

The report was signed by the president of the SBiH Sarajevo Cantonal Board, Almir Bečarević.