SDA calls for adoption of excise taxes, but how their MPs will vote is unknown

SDA considers the adoption of the Law on Excise Taxes in the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH necessary, and calls on all parliamentary parties, as well as all MPs of the House of Representatives, to adopt the Law under an urgent procedure, it was announced today from this party, reports Patria.

- Based on the stance on this issue, which is of crucial importance for the further functioning of government, implementation of reforms and continuation of infrastructure development, we will build and re-examine relations within the coalition. All attempts to score daily political points by misleading the public on issues regulated by this Law can have long-term detrimental consequences for all citizens.

The arrangement with the IMF is a necessary prerequisite for the release of funds for road construction, which is a strong generator of economic development. The construction of road infrastructure has a multiplier effect on economic growth, in other words, it significantly increases the growth rate and the number of jobs.

The adoption of excise taxes on oil and petroleum products, as well as heating oil, is a condition for activating 156 million euros for Autoceste (Motorways) and 65 million euros for Ceste FBiH (Roads of FBiH).

According to the Letter of Intent with the IMF, this measure, characterized as a Prior Measure, is one of the conditions that must be met for BiH to successfully pass the first review within the Extended Arrangement, in order for a tranche of approximately 155 million KM (2/3 for FBiH, 1/3 for RS) to be disbursed.

The alternative to adopting excise taxes is slowed economic growth, slower job creation, and much more expensive borrowing on the domestic market.

Failure to adopt this Law and the practical collapse of the arrangement with the IMF would jeopardize the stability of the budget, especially the much-needed funds for pensions, veterans' and social protection. The arrangement with the IMF itself serves to preserve financial stability, maintain macroeconomic stability, and serves as a basis for all other foreign loan arrangements.

And nothing would be strange if precisely four MPs from SDA, Šemsudin Mehmedović, Senad Šepić, Salko Sokolović, and Sadik Ahmetović, voted against the urgency of the procedure at the previous session of the House of Representatives of the PS BiH on April 5, thus sending the law into a regular procedure. Therefore, it would be better for SDA to align its stance with its own members instead of calling on others to vote for the law.