KS Assembly Adopts Draft Budget for 2023 in the Amount of Almost 1.2 Billion KM

SARAJEVO, (Patria) - The Assembly of Sarajevo Canton today adopted the Draft Budget of KS for 2023 in the amount of 1,193,051,352 KM, and sent it for a 20-day public debate.

The Minister of Finance of Sarajevo Canton, Davor Čičić, presented the basic steps and phases of the preparation of this budget at today's session of the Assembly, as well as the circumstances that defined its amount and purpose.

Preparation Began in July Last Year

“The preparation of the Draft Budget for 2023 began back in July last year, when the Ministry of Finance sent budget instructions and deadlines for its submission to all budget users. By August 31, 2022, all budget requests were submitted to the Ministry, in accordance with the provided instructions. The Ministry then, in accordance with the Law on Budgets of FBiH, prepared the Draft of this budget, balancing the revenue and expenditure sides of the Budget for 2023,” stated Minister Čičić.

He particularly emphasized that the preparation of this budget involved a significant drop in revenue from indirect taxes, which is a consequence of the adoption of the new Law on the Allocation of Public Revenues in FBiH, which reduced Sarajevo Canton's share in revenue distribution based on a reduced weight from 1.9658 to 1.5, and which will decrease by 0.1 each subsequent year until it reaches a coefficient of 1.3.

The revenue side of the Budget includes projections from the Federal Ministry of Finance, as well as changes in other tax and non-tax revenues, and the estimated surplus from the previous year. In the expenditure part of the budget, changes were made to the gross wages and contributions for all budget users in accordance with signed collective agreements, as well as other planned expenditure increases (positions for protection of families with children, veteran subsistence allowances, etc.).

As Minister Čičić added, the revenue side of the Budget is planned based on the latest official revised public revenues for 2022 and projections of these revenues for the period 2023-2025 by the Federal Ministry of Finance, which include a significant increase in profit tax, income tax, and a drastic decrease in indirect taxes belonging to KS compared to the previous year.

According to him, the Budget shows that profit tax revenues have increased by 45 million KM, income tax revenues have increased by about 27.9 million KM, while indirect taxes have decreased by 110.9 million KM compared to the previous period.

Numerous Discussions

Budget revenues constitute 81.67 percent of the total share in revenues; other revenues include earmarked revenues, own revenues, donations, transfers, and receipts. Sarajevo Canton has also planned loan borrowing for this year in the amount of 119.6 million KM, which represents a total of 10 percent of the total revenue side of the KS Budget.

In the expenditure part, wages and employee benefits in the entire public sector amount to 612,513,241 KM. The increase in the number of employees mainly relates to 506 employees in primary and secondary education through alignment with the actual situation in this sector. The Budget also incorporates a planned five percent increase in wages for public sector employees.

Current transfers, according to established legal obligations and available funds, amount to 243,876,604 KM and account for slightly more than 20 percent of the total Budget.

The Draft Budget of KS for 2023 has opened numerous discussions, with deputies expressing opinions, ideas, suggestions, and proposals for its improvement in areas such as youth issues, their employment and housing, greater investment in culture, sports, and science, projects aimed at improving air quality, staffing and equipping the police, replenishing the increasingly scarce specialist medical staff, etc.

Institutions, organizations, local communities, and citizens have 20 days of public debate in which they can present their ideas, proposals, and visions in shaping the final form of the KS Budget for the current year 2023.