March 16 (SeeNews) - The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Friday it encourages the authorities of Bosnia and Herzegovina to step up efforts to implement structural reforms.
An IMF staff mission, led by Nadeem Ilahi, visited Banja Luka and Sarajevo during March 7-15, to assess recent economic developments and the implementation of structural reforms envisaged under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) concluded with the country in 2016, the IMF said in a statement sent to SeeNews.
The mission assessed economic developments and followed up on progress toward implementing structural benchmarks envisaged for the period ahead.
The discussions, held with the prime ministers of Bosnia's entity governments as well as state-level representatives, covered fiscal performance, business climate reforms, and financial sector developments, the IMF noted.
"We look forward to continuing the discussions during the 2018 spring meetings of the IMF and World Bank Group to be held in Washington in April", Nadeem Ilahi said. "IMF staff will visit Bosnia and Herzegovina in the coming months to conduct discussions on the second review for the authorities reform program, supported by the Fund under the EFF".
The IMF recently made available 74.6 million euro ($91.7 million) to Bosnia, after completing the first review of the country's reform performance under the EFF.
The IMF executive board approved the 36-month, 553.3 million euro arrangement under the EFF for Bosnia and Herzegovina on September 7, 2016.
Bosnia is made up of two entities, the Serb Republic and the Federation.
($=0.813450 euro)