IMF May Unlock Bosnia Loans

An International Monetary Fund mission is in Bosnia for talks aimed at unlocking payouts under a $650 million loan program which are frozen due to lack of progress by the authorities in carrying out economic reforms, the lender said on Monday, Reuters reported. The IMF approved a three-year €550 million ($648.5 million) extended loan arrangement for Bosnia in Sept. 2016 and has already disbursed €79.2 million to two autonomous regions, the Bosniak-Croat Federation and the Serb Republic. But political bickering in parliament blocked reforms agreed with the fund and a first review of the agreement, which is required for more credit to be released, was not completed. The one-week IMF visit follows parliament’s adoption last week of a long-delayed set of laws on excise taxes, which was among key conditions for further disbursements of IMF aid. The law raising road-toll fees and excise taxes on bio-fuel should unlock hundreds of million euros for infrastructure projects from international lenders and the IMF believes it will kick off a new cycle of economic growth and job creation.