AMIDŽIĆ: BUDGET INCREASE FROM CENTRAL BANK PROFITS

SARAJEVO, JULY 22 /SRNA/ - The Minister of Finance and Treasury in the Council of Ministers, Srđan Amidžić, said that the increase in the BiH budget was caused by the profit generated by the Central Bank of BiH, and that the entities' contributions to the financing of joint institutions remained at the level of previous years and amount to BAM 1.02 billion.

Amidžić stressed that the policy is for the majority of funds to remain in the entities, because real life takes place in the entities. He expressed satisfaction that the House of Representatives of the Parliamentary Assembly of BiH adopted the Proposed Budget in the form submitted by the Ministry of Finance and Treasury. Amidžić pointed out that allocations for the Indirect Taxation Authority /ITA/ of BiH remained unchanged. According to him, claims that the proposed budget supports the judiciary of BiH are not accurate, adding that decisions made under pressure are illogical. "The result of that pressure is that the head of the registry office at the Constitutional Court of BiH, who has a secondary school education, has the same salary as a minister in the Council of Ministers. The President of the Constitutional Court of BiH has a salary twice as high as that of a member of the Presidency," Amidžić told reporters after an urgent session of the House of Representatives at which the Proposed Budget of the Institutions and International Obligations of BiH for this year was adopted. He said that some had mentioned SNSD leader Milorad Dodik in the context of the judiciary. He stressed that Dodik has political influence in Republika Srpska and in BiH, that he is still present, and that those who wanted to remove him from the political scene are no longer in BiH. Amidžić said that the Proposed Budget allocates sufficient funds for border crossings, which will facilitate faster movement of goods, as well as additional funds for the repair and modernisation of border crossings and for the operation of the NTCS system. He recalled that yesterday, at the session of the Governing Board of the Indirect Taxation Authority /ITA/, the expert representing the Government of the Federation of BiH, Zijad Krnjić, once again prevented the implementation of an international agreement signed with Croatia, which would enable the new categorisation of nine border crossings. Amidžić explained that Radio Television of BiH and cultural institutions are not budget users and that, therefore, funds for them cannot be allocated from the budget. "The Ministry of Finance and Treasury respects legal obligations. We have never obstructed anyone's rights. We allocated the funds from the Communications Regulatory Agency /CRA/ in such a way that BAM six million goes to Radio Television of BiH, and BAM two million each to the Government of Republika Srpska and the Government of the Federation of BiH," Amidžić said.