2026 DRAFT BiH BUDGET OF BAM 1.5 BILLION ADOPTED

SARAJEVO, MAY 21 /SRNA/ - The BiH Council of Ministers today approved the Draft Budget for the Institutions and International Obligations of BiH for this year in the amount of BAM 1.5 billion, confirmed Finance and Treasury Minister Srđan Amidžić.

Following the session of the Council of Ministers, Amidžić said the budget had been increased compared to last year and that the increase mainly referred to employee compensation.

"The amount is BAM 130.8 million and the Ministry of Finance and Treasury has planned full payment of all salaries to all employees based on the increased salary base of BAM 690 starting from January 1, 2026," Amidžić emphasized.

He underlined that the text of amendments to the law under which employees in the joint institutions would receive salary increases had been harmonized and adopted by the House of Representatives, and now also needed to be adopted by the House of Peoples.

"The moment that same harmonized text is adopted in the House of Peoples, the legal conditions will be created for us to retroactively pay all employees in BiH institutions their salaries based on the BAM 690 salary base," the minister stated.

According to him, the budget also includes an increase in meal allowances for employees in the joint institutions, as well as a 15 percent increase in transportation compensation.

"The majority of the budget, or rather most of the increase visible in the budget itself, relates to employees and that is what we considered absolutely normal," Amidžić stressed.

The minister added that the budget includes funds for the reconstruction of cross-border bridges with Croatia and Serbia, as well as a BAM four million grant for the Football Association of BiH intended for infrastructure construction projects in Republika Srpska and the Federation of BiH.

"I am also pleased that we allocated funds for the BiH Indirect Taxation Authority to continue the project of introducing the NCTS system, which would significantly reduce waiting times for our freight carriers at border crossings," Amidžić noted.