Health sector left without 30 million due to blocked state budget

SARAJEVO, (Patria) - The Council of Ministers will tomorrow make a decision on the temporary financing of BiH institutions and international obligations for the first quarter of 2022, putting an end to speculations that more than 20,000 employees in state institutions could be left without jobs and benefits as early as January, confirmed Chairman Zoran Tegeltija.

 We have previously clarified that representatives from Republika Srpska in BiH institutions will participate in making only those decisions that are in the interest of citizens. In order not to jeopardize the income of a large number of employees, we will approve the decision on temporary financing for the next quarter of 2022 - explained Tegeltija.

He hopes that, unlike this year, the BiH budget will be adopted in 2022 and that decisions on temporary financing will no longer be necessary.

Tegeltija expressed regret that the budget for 2021 was not adopted, reminding that the Council of Ministers determined two draft budgets for institutions for 2021 this year. One of these drafts was returned by the Presidency of BiH for revision, and the other is still in the parliamentary procedure.

Tegeltija stated that the second draft was harmonized with the instructions from the Presidency of BiH and sent to the parliamentary procedure where it still remains.

Given that there is neither realistic time for that budget to be adopted, nor political consensus, as Tegeltija said, it is clear that the budget for 2021 will not be adopted either.

The budget of BiH institutions, he stated, mostly relates to current operations and personal income of employees, and a relatively small amount of funds is allocated for capital investments and support through certain grants and transfers to the non-governmental sector, sports, cultural, and other institutions.

Tegeltija stated that these institutions will be left without these funds due to the non-adoption of the budget for 2021.

- However, I regret the most the fact that due to the non-adoption of the budget, we will not be able to help the health sector in either Republika Srpska or the Federation of BiH. I will remind you that in the budget for 2021, we planned to allocate almost 30 million KM for direct assistance to the health sector, which is suffering huge costs as a consequence of the fight against COVID - emphasized Tegeltija.