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Economic Task Force Secretariat
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Dec-98 | Jan-99 | Feb-99 | Mar-99 | |
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Unemployment (persons) | 398639 | 401775 | 404940 | 407859 |
Net wage (KM) | 330 | 335 | 337 | 329 |
Federation of BiH
Apr-99 | May-99 | June-99 | Jul-99 | |
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Unemployment (persons) | 262273 | 262228 | 261660 | |
Employment (persons) | 407179 | 407194 | 407212 | |
Unemployment ratio (1) | 43.5% | 43.5% | 43.4% | |
Net wage (KM) | 375.5 | 372.5 | 368.5 | |
Retail price growth | -0.2% | 0.0% | -0.7% | -1.0% |
- annual growth (2) | -0.5% | -1.0% | -0.9% | -0.7% |
Industrial prod growth | 1.5% | -3.5% | 9.0% | 0.0% |
- annual growth (2) | 11.7% | 1.7% | 9.9% | 8.2% |
Sales to RS (KM mln) | 3.40 | 7.07 | 6.08 | 5.31 |
Republika Srpska (RS)
Apr-99 | May-99 | June-99 | Jul-99 | |
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Unemployment (persons) | 142152 (Dec 1998) | |||
Employment (persons) | 250000 (estimate 1998) | |||
Unemployment ratio (1) | 36% (estimate Dec 1998) | |||
Net wage (KM) | 200 | 201 | 211 | 229 |
Retail price growth | 2.6% | 1.3% | 2.8% | -0.7% |
- annual growth (2) | 12.7% | 16.7% | 21.3% | 15.0% |
Industrial prod growth | -25.4% | -3.9% | 20.5% | -0.9% |
- annual growth (2) | -12.6% | 4.2% | 10.1% | -4.3% |
Sales to Fed. (KM mln) | 2.45 | 2.36 |
Sources: BiH Agency of Statistics, Federation Statistical Institute and RS Statistical Institute. Growth figures are over one month, unless indicated otherwise. Inflation in KM prices. (1) Number of unemployed over employed plus unemployed, excludes waiting list and gray economy; (2) Annual figure, month this year over month previous year. |
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Federation | |||
June | July | August | |
1998 | 23,149,015 | 17,772,449 | 23,497,417 |
1999 | 27,660,477 | 28,613,250 | 38,372,796 |
Republika Srpska | |||
1998 | 2,323,970 | 1,788,235 | 601,066 |
1999 | 11,881,660 | 10,714,660 | 13,865,040 |
Total revenues collected by Customs (customs duties and excises) for the first eight months of 1999 were: Federation: KM 352,184,589 and RS: KM 156,979,489.
The Customs and Fiscal Assistance Office (CAFAO), a programme, funded by the European Commission, is working with the Federation Customs Service and the Republika Srpska Customs Service to establish Customs Enforcement Sections within each Service.
All personnel have been appointed to the Enforcement Sections and have participated in classroom training provided by the CAFAO programme. The on-the-job training component is now underway and being facilitated by CAFAO officers working in the field with the Federation and the RS Customs Enforcement staff. CAFAO has also provided the Customs Services with all equipment necessary to support law enforcement activities including cameras, vehicles, satellite communication equipment and equipment to search vehicles and containers.
Although the first six months of this year has been largely devoted to selecting, training and equipping the two Enforcement Sections, there has been considerable success in detecting major customs fraud in the region. In this short period of time and while not yet fully operational, evasion of revenues, estimated to be more than some KM 12 million has already been identified.
Changes are planned in the near future to enhance customs officers' powers to enable them with more effective law enforcement. The introduction of additional and more appropriate legislation to deal with customs offenses and penalties is also planned.
CAFAO is assisting the Entities to establish formal cooperation on customs matters with BiH's trading partner countries' customs authorities, aimed at further minimizing opportunities for smuggling and customs fraud in the region.
During their last meeting, the current Governing Board of the Federation payment bureaus agreed to establish a new Governing Board, consisting of five members including the Governor of the Central Bank of Bosnia and Herzegovina. In addition, the Governing Board approved the start of financial verification of all assets and liabilities of the Federation payment bureaus.
The final report addressing the aspects of employment transition stemming from elimination of the payment bureaus is about to be completed. The report will, inter alia, address various issues and suggest strategies for new employment for laid-off workers, training, and early retirement. The expert conducting the research found the RS payment bureaus (SPP) to be more advanced in addressing the impact of transformation on employees than their counterparts in the Federation.
A statistical expert from the International Monetary Fund, in cooperation with an expert from the European Union, is evaluating which agencies could assume the statistical function of the payment bureaus including the availability and improving the quality of statistics.
Foreign reserve assets of the Central Bank of Bosnia and Herzegovina continue to increase in a satisfactory manner. Foreign exchange assets stood at KM 398.8 million on 31 July 1999, up from KM 287.7 million at the end of January 1999. This 39 percent increase in six months is unlikely to be sustained over the next months. It is difficult to eliminate the use of the Deutsche Mark entirely for non-public transactions. Nevertheless, continued growth in reserves should be expected.
The Governor of the Central Bank of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Peter Nicholl recently announced that Volksbank from Slovenia commenced selling and buying the Konvertible Mark in their banking offices in Slovenia from 30 August. "Slovenia was one of our important target countries because of its strong links with Bosnia and Herzegovina", Mr. Nicholl said, "therefore this agreement is important for it adds Slovenia to the group of countries where it is possible to buy and sell the KM. That group of countries is Austria, Croatia, Germany, Hungary, Switzerland and now Slovenia."
As part of the final consultation process, the Minister responsible for Foreign Trade and Economic Relations for Bosnia and Herzegovina, together with the Head of Office of OHR-Banja Luka, chaired an inter-Entity consultation on possible areas of collaboration between the Entities for implementation of the strategy. The meeting was held on 11 August 1999, in Banja Luka.
The specific aim of this meeting was to review options for harmonization of animal health, international trade measures, inter-Entity trade, development of public institutions for research, education and extension and other areas where collaboration may have a clear economic benefit for the sector. EU Phare is supporting the establishment of an Agriculture Strategy and Programming Unit, working closely with each Ministry, as part of a broader follow-up on the implementation of the strategy. The aim is to establish short-term priorities for project and policy measures.
The Federation Ministry of Agriculture presented the strategy during the Plum Fair in Gradacac (2 September). The Federation ministry will seek comments from the cantonal ministries and sector market participants in completion of a final draft.
Formal approval and government endorsement of Entity level strategies is planned to be achieved by the end of the year.
Trebinje Region Electricity Distribution System Rehabilitated and Upgraded
A Spanish funded project (KM 5.25 million), aimed to rehabilitate and upgrade the electricity distribution system in the Trebinje region, was completed in the beginning of September.
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This Newsletter is published under the authority of Wolfgang Petritsch, High Representative.
Editor-in Chief:
Managing Editors: Information on economic data and trends in BiH are also available on the USAID web site: http://www.usaid.ba/ |
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