November 15 (SeeNews) - The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has asked Bosnia's two entities to harmonise their banking sector laws with the aim of boosting economic growth, the country's state-level government said.
Bosnia needs to strive towards achieving stability of the financial system and reviving bank lending, both of which depend on a harmonised legal basis, the Council of Ministers said following a meeting on Monday with a delegation of the IMF led by mission chief Nadeem Ilahi.
Ilahi commended Bosnia on achievements made thus far, and added that the IMF is closely monitoring the adoption of entity-level banking sector laws. He emphasised that these laws must be harmonised in order to encourage investments and economic growth.
An IMF mission is visiting Bosnia for the first review under a new three-year loan programme for the country approved in September. The programme should support the country’s economic reform agenda that should boost growth and push towards macroeconomic stability.
The loan programme was designed to replace a stand-by arrangement which expired in June 2015, after the IMF froze the disbursement of new loan installments because the country had failed to implement needed reforms.
Bosnia is made up of two entities, the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Serb Republic. Both have their own governments linked by a weak state-level government with limited jurisdiction.