After the House of Peoples of the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina postponed the consideration of amendments to the Law on Excise Duties B&H relating to the harmonization of excise duty rates on various tobacco products, the Stand-By arrangement of Bosnia and Herzegovina with the International Monetary Fund could be jeopardized.
IMF Resident Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina Ruben Atoyan warned B&H today, stressing that the failure to adopt amendments to the Law on Excise Duties prevents the conclusion of the sixth review of obligations of Bosnia and Herzegovina under the Stand-By Arrangement.
“IMF staff cannot at this time bring the sixth review under Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Stand- By Arrangement to the attention of the IMF’s Executive Board. While the entity authorities implemented measures that had been agreed to improve revenue collection and budget processes, the decision by the House of Peoples BiH Parliament to delay consideration of legislation to harmonize excises on different tobacco products precludes the completion of the review and the disbursement of the next tranche,” said Atoyan.
He also said that the team is expected to return to Banja Luka and Sarajevo in the second half of May for further discussions on how the IMF could continue to support Bosnia and Herzegovina.
