September 26 (SeeNews) - Bosnia's consolidated budget showed a surplus of 492 million marka ($355 million/252 million euro) at the end of the first half of 2007, up 17.6% from the surplus registered a year ago, the central bank (CBBH) said on Wednesday.
“This continues the trend of fiscal consolidation recorded in previous periods, during which revenues always grew at the faster pace compared with expenditures,” CBBH said in a statement.
Consolidated budget revenue, including budgets of governments and off-budget funds, totalled 3.834 billion marka, 14.9% up on the year, while expenditures were up 14.5% to 3.342 billion marka, the statement said.
The consolidated budget comprises the budget of the central government, the budgets of Bosnia's three postwar parts - the Muslim-Croat Federation, the Serb Republic and the neutral Brcko District - and the budgets of the 10 cantons that form the Federation. It excludes municipality budgets.
"Individual fiscal positions at the level of [the Federation and the Serb Republic] are also in surplus – 250 million marka in the Federation and 140 million in the Serb Republic," the bank said.
Bosnia sets no target figures for revenue and spending in its consolidated budget, as the war-divided country still lacks legal mechanisms for centralised budget planning.
CBBH Governor Kemal Kozaric warned in July that the public spending in Bosnia grew faster than the economy.
Spending pressure could push Bosnia's budget back into deficit after two years of surplus, Moody's Investors Service said in a report earlier this year.
The introduction of a value added tax (VAT) at the beginning of 2006 led to a rapid rise in government revenue in the divided state, keeping the consolidated budget in surplus for a second straight year, and also helping to significantly narrow the trade and current account deficit last year.
(1 euro=1.95583 Bosnian marka)