With the aim to strengthen fiscal policy in Bosnia and Herzegovina, EUFPS (European Union Fiscal Policy Support to Bosnia and Herzegovina), an EU funded project organized the conference on “Public finances and fiscal management” from July 1st to July 5th, 2008. The conference gathered together leading international experts and representatives of institutions, who share their experiences on government financial statistics, macroeconomic and fiscal forecasts, budget coordination, fiscal rules, taxation, expenditures, and assessment of fiscal policy and fiscal sustainability.
In presence of officials from the Ministry of Finance and Treasury of BiH, the Conference was opened by Mr. Marc Vanbrabant, first advisor in European Commision Delegation to BiH. Development of fiscal monitoring mechanisms, adequate environment for institutional cooperation within the framework of National Fiscal Council, permanent formula for allocation of revenues from indirect taxes, are pre-requirements that BiH has to fulfill for partnership with EU, said Mr. Vanbrabant. He expressed his pleasure with the progress that BiH made in the field of fiscal prudence and fiscal sustainability.
Boris Petkov, EUFPS team leader, expressed his thanks to the EC Delegation to BiH for financial assistance and underlined that adoption of the Law on Fiscal Council represents positive step in improving coordination and implementation of strong fiscal policy in entire country.
There were more than 50 representatives from the Ministry of Finance and Treasury of BiH, F BiH Ministry of Finance, RS Ministry of Finance, Directorate for Finance from Brcko District, BiH Central Bank, Directorate for Economic Planning of the Council of Ministers, representatives of international institutions and projects, professors and lecturers from a number of European countries. Prof. Dr. Paul Bernard Spahn gave a well visited lecture on problems in macroeconomic forecasting in BiH.
Representatives of Macroeconomic Analysis Unit from ITA Governing Board also actively participated in the conference. Dinka Antić, MSc, discussed on issues of fiscal coordination and evolution of fiscal federalism in BiH in the context of world trends. Mirela Kadić had presentation on the topic “Monthly fiscal reporting and monitoring”, carried out by the Unit. She emphasized importance of interventions of the Fiscal Council in passing the Rulebook and other bylaws, which will regulated scope and deadlines of reporting to MAU, ensure uniform application of international standards for fiscal reporting in BiH and international comparability of fiscal statistics with EU and other countries. Aleksandra Regoje, macroeconomist in the Unit, presented the process of revenue projections for indirect taxes, preparation of budget framework paper (BFP) at state, entity and District level. She also underlined the role of the Macroeconomic Analysis Unit in work of the Budget Coordination Board.