Eurasia Press & News
An International Monetary Fund mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina said that it found “encouraging signs” during a 13-day visit to review the country’s performance and prospects under its stand-by agreement with the IMF.
The positive messages from the IMF appear to be in contrast to recent findings by the European Commission (EC) about Bosnia and Herzegovina’s economy, although the EC report did say that the country’s performance under the stand-by agreement with the IMF had been “broadly satisfactory”.
The IMF mission, led by Costas Christou visited Bosnia and Herzegovina from November 2 to15 2010 to hold discussions with the authorities on the fourth review under the Stand-By Arrangement (SBA).
Speaking in Sarajevo at the conclusion of the mission, Christou said that, following the decline in economic activity in 2009, an export-led recovery had been advancing. Output growth is expected to turn positive this year and reach 2.25 per cent in 2011, he said.
“Other encouraging signs include acceleration in indirect tax collections and gains in manufacturing production.”
Performance under Bosnia and Herzegovina’s SBA has been “broadly on track,” Christou said.
All end-September 2010 performance criteria and structural benchmarks were observed, and achievement of the end-2010 fiscal targets, including the consolidated general government deficit of 4.5 per cent of GDP, was within reach, the IMF said.
