Zvizdić: BiH has the potential to enter into new credit debt

Denis Zvizdić, Chairman of the Council of Ministers of BiH addressed the MPs of the House of Representatives of the BiH Parliament after the debate on the Bill on Amendments to the Excise Law concluded, and pointed out that he calls on the MPs to return from the field of politics to the field of expertise, to talk about real things in expert language, writes Patria.

- I call on the representatives who will vote for the negative stance of the commission to change their stance and to reach the stage of submitting amendments – said Zvizdić, stating that some of the MPs' discussions surprised him and he wondered if he was at a political rally or at a session of the House of Representatives of the BiH Parliament.

- The claim that the introduction of excise duties will be used to plug budget holes is unfounded. Funds from excise duties, as stated in the laws you have received, will go exclusively to the construction of roads and highways. The claim that six billion has been collected from excise duties on oil so far is incorrect and complete nonsense. The claim that the introduction of excise duties will lead to price increases is arbitrary. When we talk about borrowing for infrastructure construction, we must know that without road infrastructure, BiH cannot talk about dynamically growing economy – said Zvizdić.

He added that BiH has the potential to enter into such credit debt, because these are soft loans with a grace period and an interest rate not exceeding 2 percent.

- BiH's public debt is 6 billion euros, if we compare it, for example, with Serbia, which has 25 billion, it is clear how much we are indebted. By adopting the excise law, 860 million euros would be mobilized, which would be directed to Corridor Vc, without which BiH cannot turn towards Europe, and without which investments cannot be discussed. They often ask why we don't have IKEA, and one of the conditions is that they have highways to the places where they need to go – said Zvizdić.