November 30 (SeeNews) - Bosnian authorities are seeking a new funding deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) worth 750 million euro ($900 million), local media quoted the Fund's resident representative Andrew Jewell as saying.
"We have started negotiations. The Bosnian authorities are asking for an extended arrangement that will last three years. This means the same type of programme as the one approved in 2016," news daily Nezavisne Novine quoted Jewell as saying in an interview over the weekend.
"We hope to be able to wrap up the talks at the beginning of next month. If all is OK, the programme could be put to the vote by the [IMF's] executive board at the end of January or the beginning of February," Jewell said.
Bosnian prime minister Zoran Tegeltija said in September that the government decided to launch negotiations with the IMF on a new funding arrangement aimed at helping offset the impact of the Covid-19 crisis on the economy and support a new investment cycle.
In April, the IMF said it was turning its attention to negotiating a new, multi-year funding arrangement with the Bosnian authorities, following the approval of 333 million euro in emergency assistance to the country in the context of the coronavirus pandemic.
In September 2016, the IMF approved a three-year, 553.3 million euro loan under an Extended Fund Facility (EFF) to support Bosnia's economic reform agenda. However, its implementation had been blocked after Bosnia failed to form a new government and state institutions more than a year following the October 2018 general elections. The country's new government was eventually voted in office in December 2019, pledging to unblock the IMF deal.
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