Wrong Code Entered in the FBiH Budget: 12.8 Million KM Intended for Free Textbooks for Primary School Students - Lost!

(Patria) - At least 12.8 million marks intended for the purchase of textbooks for students up to the fifth grade of primary schools in the Federation remained unused because the House of Representatives of FBiH made a mistake in the economic code when adopting the Budget.

“The funds are, in fact, blocked because without a budget revision they cannot be realized,” a source from the Ministry of Finance of BiH told Istraga.

“During the adoption of the joint amendment in January this year, in the federal parliament, an error occurred in the economic code. So, the amendment relates to increased spending for the procurement of textbooks for children in primary school from 1st to 5th grade throughout the Federation. It happened that this error was not corrected. When the budget revision was not adopted in July, everything remained on hold. And I am truly sorry that children have been brought into this situation, as well as parents and teachers,” said the federal Minister of Education and Science Jasna Duraković in mid-September.

The budget, we remind, was adopted in January this year by representatives of HDZ, Our Party, NiP, and SDP. Given that a large part of the budget was affected by amendments, the wrong economic code was entered. At the time of the Budget adoption, the House of Representatives of FBiH was chaired by Mirjana Marinković-Lepić, who showed a lack of knowledge of Roman numerals. Marinković-Lepić, as we learn, informed the Government of FBiH that it was “only a technical error” and that there were no obstacles to using the money intended for textbooks. However, the Government of FBiH could not use this money before the budget revision. But, for the budget revision at this moment, the ruling coalition does not have enough votes in the House of Representatives of FBiH because there are disagreements between HDZ 1990 and HDZ BiH. Without the votes of HDZ 1990, the ruling coalition does not have the necessary majority in the House of Representatives of FBiH.