Bosnia's parliament passed a state budget for 2011 on Saturday in an emergency procedure to keep the government functioning, after rival groups agreed to form an administration this week, ending an impasse dating back to an inconclusive election in 2010.
Bosnia's Muslim, Croat and Serb leaders agreed on Wednesday to form a central cabinet and pass the 2011 budget, without which all payments to state institutions would have been halted on January 1. The International Monetary Fund and the European Union have demanded that Bosnia adopt budgets for 2011 and 2012 and a fiscal framework for 2012-2014 before they release frozen funds to the Balkan country.
The 2011 budget was set at 1 billion Bosnian marka (500 million euros), matching the amount of temporary financing that the central government has received this year. The deputies approved the budget in a shortened procedure, without the usually obligatory approval of the state collective presidency and the outgoing administration.
"What matters is that Bosnia-Herzegovina has got a budget ... so institutions can continue operating," deputy Dusanka Majkic said. The presidency will formally approve the budget next week so it can be published in an official gazette. Parliament has also ordered the outgoing central cabinet to draft a plan for temporary financing for the first quarter of 2012.
The previous central cabinet has continued to operate in a technical capacity only since the inconclusive election in October 2010. The deal on the budget has been delayed for a year because Bosnia's two autonomous regions, which allocate most of the funds on behalf of the central government, could not agree on its size. The Serb Republic, which wants to preserve its autonomy, had sought a smaller budget for the central government, citing the need for savings at a time of economic crisis.
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