The Chairman of the Council of Ministers, Zoran Tegeltija, announced the adoption of the Agenda for Implementation of Socio-economic Measures Programme for the period 2019-2022, at the first session, as a support for the governments of Republic of Srpska and the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which have already adopted these programmes and which are under their jurisdiction.
Tegeltija said the new Council of Ministers has five or six priority commitments – from the law on deposit insurance, through the VAT law, to some other measures, whilst other obligations are largely the jurisdiction of the Entities.
When it comes to the possible change in the VAT rate in B&H, the Chairman of the Council of Ministers emphasized that a consensus is needed for everything in this country, including that.
“We will never propose what we will not agree on, not even the issue of VAT”, said Tegeltija, recalling that he also answered this question at the session of the Commission for the Election Preparation of the new Council of Ministers.
According to him, there is no increase in the VAT rate in the draft law on VAT that has been in the procedure for a long time.
He believes that the combination of a change in direct and indirect taxes can create the precondition for a more flexible labor market that will enable wage growth, especially in the private sector, and provide an additional level of funding for the functioning of social security funds in the Entities.
“But it is a matter of full consensus, as the parliaments of the Entities and the House of Representatives and the House of Peoples of B&H must be involved in the whole process”.
He stressed that the Council of Ministers has a clear role to play when it comes to the economy, but that many more measures are under the jurisdiction of the Entities.
“The message that has to come from the Council of Ministers is that no reform implemented by the Entities will be stopped because of the Council of Ministers. Arrangements with international financial institutions will not be threatened because the Council of Ministers did not do something”, said Tegeltija.
According to Tegeltija, a unique economic space – is the goal of all of us and there are no obstacles in defining it.
TST
