Big drop in income, due to coronavirus pandemic, B&H authorities again want to compensate with credit indebtedness, and new negotiations have been announced with the IMF on indebtedness of as much as one and a half billion marks. 

Great manipulation

This way of government borrowing, according to the economic expert and former B&H Ambassador Draško Aćimović, without implementing key reforms, is leading B&H and its people to abyss.

- In the statements of the representative of the IMF Mission in B&H, Andrew Juel, we see that even the IMF does not know where the 600 million loans taken in 2016 ended, when only one tranche was withdrawn and the rest stopped because the authorities did not implement promised reforms. Those 600 million were put into the budget, and the IMF does not know where that money ended up. But, it is not only about those 600 million, because this year alone the government is asking the IMF for 1.5 billion marks, last week they decided to borrow another 680 million for roads, they are asking the EU for 500 million, and with commercial banks have meanwhile borrowed several hundred million. This is amazing. In all forms, this level of indebtedness of B&H leads to a total collapse - says Aćimović.

He points out that the repayment of all loans has been agreed for the period after the elections in 2022, which creates suspicion of one of the biggest manipulations of the government in history.

They constantly use that word - arrangement. The arrangement can be musical or floral, but a loan is a loan - Aćimović explains.

VAT increase

He warned earlier about the danger of financial ruin, due to the consequences of the coronavirus pandemic on the B&H economy.

- It is not a problem to borrow if there is something to return. The reforms are also planned so that there would be something to return that money, but if they are not done, the alternative is a new increase in excise duties and VAT - Aćimović points out.

Work for the people

We are, in essence, choosing between stopping crime, corruption and flattering the politically eligible, and indebtedness that will lead us into deeper poverty and bankruptcy. I think that in this situation, which is in many ways worse than war, we need people who are ready to sacrifice themselves next year because of their historical role and not to work for money, but for the people - he says.