The institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina continue to function on the basis of the 2025 budget, and as things stand now, they could enter the year 2027 as well. The reason is the failure to reach an agreement on the fiscal framework, which is a prerequisite for the preparation and adoption of the budget for 2026.
No agreement was reached at the session of the Fiscal Council of Bosnia and Herzegovina held at the beginning of February, because the representatives of Republika Srpska were against the proposed fiscal framework. Insiders claim that the chances of the budget being adopted this year are minimal, and eventual adoption is possible only after the elections in October.
Economist Igor Gavran estimates that the election year will further complicate the situation.
“An election year is coming and it is even more certain that the demands will be unrealistic on both sides. And deliberately, because of the election, both will demand what the ‘others’ will not accept,” Gavran said.
Wages “increased” only on paper
Due to the non-adoption of the budget, the salaries of employees in BiH institutions will not be increased this year either, even though the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina made a decision on a new basis for salary calculation.
The new basis amounts to 690.86 KM, but its application depends on the adoption of the budget. Currently, the base from 2025 in the amount of 631.5 KM is being applied. This means that the salary increase practically remained “on paper”.
Amendments to the law as the only way out
The solution can be seen in the amendments to the Law on Salaries and Remunerations in BiH Institutions, which have already been adopted in the House of Representatives of the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina, but are still awaiting confirmation in the House of Peoples.
According to the proposed changes, the new basis would be applied from January 1 of the current year, and the competent institutions would be obliged to make a retroactive payment of the difference within 30 days from the day of the budget adoption.
According to unofficial information, there is a possibility that the House of Peoples will consider these changes at the session scheduled for Friday. However, the current practice of interrupting sessions and leaving the quorum by SNSD or HDZ BiH delegates casts doubt on the outcome.
The union announces protests
The President of the Independent Union of Civil Servants and Employees of BiH, Radenko Mirković, says that the workers are not interested in the budget as a political document, but only in changes to the law that would enable retroactive payment of increases.
“We wrote twice to the House of Peoples and we won’t do it again. We will probably make a decision on the protests by the end of May,” said Mirković, warning that the union will take political action against anyone who blocks the adoption of the changes.
Pending development policies
Without an adopted budget, the institutions function in the mode of technical maintenance, without the possibility of initiating more serious development policies and reforms. As economists warn, long-term temporary financing further destabilizes the administrative and financial system of the country.
In such a situation, workers are left between political fights and procedural blockages – with wage increases that exist only on paper, he writes. NOISE.
