EMERGENCY SESSION House of Representatives adopted the Bill on Provisional Financing of FBiH

(Patria) - At an emergency session of the House of Representatives of the FBiH Parliament, which began in Ilidža after the regular one that just ended, representatives promptly adopted the Bill on provisional financing of this entity for the period January - March 2022.

The Government of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, at today's urgent telephone session, determined the Bill on provisional financing of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina for the period January - March 2022.

The Bill determines the amount of provisional financing of FBiH, until the adoption of the FBiH Budget for 2022, for the first three months in the amount of BAM 1,116,181,228, based on the quarterly average of the execution of the FBiH Budget for the period January - September 2021.

According to the explanation, the legal obligation to adopt the Decision on Provisional Financing is prescribed in Article 35 of the Law on Budgets in FBiH.

The Government of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, at its 297th session held on December 30, 2021, considered the Bill on the FBiH Budget for 2022 and sent it to the parliamentary procedure as a matter of urgency in order to secure the necessary funds for the unhindered fulfillment of obligations from internal and external debt, social benefits, disability benefits, and pensions.

At the 29th regular session of the House of Representatives of the FBiH Parliament, held on January 24, 2022, when determining the procedure for considering the Bill on the FBiH Budget for 2022, it was decided that it would not be considered as a matter of urgency, but in the regular procedure.

According to Article 35 of the Law on Budgets in BiH, if the Parliament does not adopt the budget before the beginning of the fiscal year, financing of jobs, functions, and programs of budget users continues provisionally, based on the decision on provisional financing. Provisional financing is carried out for a maximum of the first three months of the fiscal year.

The decision on provisional financing is made by the Parliament. Provisional financing is carried out proportionally to the funds spent in the same period, and at most up to the quarterly average for the previous fiscal year. During the period of provisional financing, the same programs are financed, and users are not allowed to increase the number of employees compared to the situation on December 31 of the previous year. Accordingly, the Government of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina prepared the Decision on Provisional Financing of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina for the period January - March 2022.

Provisional financing of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina for the period January - March 2022 is determined based on the quarterly average of execution for the nine months of 2021 in the amount of BAM 1,116,181,228. This implies that during the validity of the Decision on Provisional Financing of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina for the period January - March 2022, only those programs and projects that had execution in the mentioned period will be financed.