SARAJEVO (Bosnia and Herzegovina), December 21 (SeeNews) – Bosnia and Herzegovina will soon have access to over 850 million euro ($1 billion) in loans for the road sector, the chairman of Bosnia's state-level government, the Council of Ministers, said.
Following the adoption of changes to the excise tax law, Bosnia will gain access to loans agreed earlier for road sector projects, Denis Zvizdic said at a press conference earlier this week, following a meeting with EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini.
"Mogherini has commended the institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina for adopting changes to the excise tax law," Zvizdic said. "More than 850 million euro in agreed loans will now become operational."
He appealed to the entity governments to start implementing the road projects as soon as they receive the funding.
Earlier this year, the EBRD said it will put on hold up to 400 million euro in loans intended to finance the construction of Corridor Vc through Bosnia, because the country has failed to adopt amendments to excise tax law needed to ensure repayment of the loans.
Other loans from European institutions were also conditioned on additional excise duties on fuel, government officials revealed earlier.
In September last year, the IMF approved a three-year 553.3 million euro loan to Bosnia to support the country's economic reform agenda. However, the IMF delayed the release of the second loan tranche in May, after the Bosnian authorities failed to meet the agreed reform targets.
Bosnia and Herzegovina is made up of two entities, the Federation and the Serb Republic. The country is hoping to restart the funding and investment cycle now that the changes to the excise tax law have been adopted.
($=0.8421 euro)