BANJALUKA – Republika Srpska is fully committed to continuing the cooperation with international financial institutions, especially the International Monetary Fund and World Bank, including the continuation of negotiations regarding credit arrangements envisaged as reform support programmes, Minister of Finance Zoran Tegeltija said on Tuesday.
“With respect to that, we expect the IMF executive directors to enter the arrangements, specifically having in mind that during the recent visits to the Srpska Government, during a meeting of the Fiscal Council of Bosnia and Herzegovina /BiH/, as well as during the talks conducted in Washington, a high level of agreement was shown on all key policies,” Tegeltija said when asked about an upcoming meeting of the IMF Executive Board.
The Letter of Intent, he said, which was fully harmonised on May 24 at a BiH Fiscal Council meeting, defined a three-year arrangement with the IMF that is supposed to provide support to reforms and be a catalyst in mobilising international financial assistance.
“When it comes to the fiscal position, apart from the problems from the beginning of the year caused when the Pension and Disability Fund was incorporated into the entity budget and the predicaments behind the IMF financial support, there is no reason for concern about the current situation in Republika Srpska,” emphasised the minister.
All entity budgetary obligations are settled in accordance with the operating expenditure plan, he said.
“If the budget-planned resources are paid by the end of this year, we expect the budget execution to be stable, meaning that the payment of the resources that has been delayed will be executed during the budget year,” Tegeltija said.
The IMF Executive Board has scheduled a meeting to discuss a new, more favourable credit arrangement of BAM1.75 billion for BiH.
The loan carries a 1.05 percent interest rate and has a four year grace period, while the repayment period is six years.
In return, the BiH authorities have promised a set of comprehensive reforms, the focus being on the structural ones that would give a strong boost to the business sector.