Tegeltija: Passing the state budget is a political decision

(Patria) - Regardless of the fact that the FBiH Government, which has been operating with the same composition for seven years, has not been formed, there are no obstacles for the Fiscal Council to function. Given that the new RS Government and the Council of Ministers of BiH have been appointed, the composition of the Fiscal Council has changed.

Minister of Finance and Treasury Zoran Tegeltija said that the Fiscal Council can make decisions at its full capacity.

He announced that a session of the Fiscal Council could be scheduled as early as next week and that decisions necessary for the continued work of this body will be made.

"We will focus on enabling all institutions to work and perform their functions towards the citizens of BiH without hindrance, and the basis for this is the budget of BiH institutions for 2023. We will try to agree on the Global Fiscal Framework as quickly as possible, and after that, to prepare the budget proposal for the Presidency of BiH, which is essentially the proposer of the budget of BiH institutions. We hope to complete all of this by the end of the first quarter of this year and get a budget that is one of the most important political documents," Tegeltija stated.

He reminded that people in power express all their policies through the budget in the areas of security, social policy, education, health protection, and the like, and therefore it should be known that passing the budget is not a technical matter for the Ministry of Finance but a political decision.

"For this reason, there is always a possibility of delays in the budget adoption process, and in such cases, the modality of temporary financing is resorted to, which, according to the law in BiH, can be implemented throughout the entire calendar year, thus ensuring the unimpeded functioning of institutions," said Tegeltija.