SARAJEVO: An International Monetary Fund team will visit Bosnia from Monday to check on the progress of reforms under its aid programme which was unblocked in February following a 18-month halt over delays to reform.
"An IMF mission will discuss the progress for the second review of its extended arrangement," IMF Resident Representative Francisco Parodi told Reuters on Thursday.
He said the two week mission would focus on the fiscal and financial sectors and structural reforms. If the second review concludes successfully, the lender will disburse 38 million euros ($45.55 million) in additional funds, Parodi added.
In February, the IMF board signed off on a review of Bosnia's 553-million-euro ($662 million) loan programme and approved a disbursement of a 74.6-million-euro loan tranche after it met key requirements.
The lender, which in 2016 approved a three-year loan deal for Bosnia, has extended it by 12 months and rescheduled payments on the request of Bosnian authorities. It also agreed to waivers on non-observance of performance criteria, saying the deviations were temporary and small. [ID: L8N1Q355M]
Bosnia has presidential and parliamentary elections in October, and campaigning with nationalist overtones - which diplomats say is not helpful for the country's economic development and EU ambitions - has been heating up.
In February, the IMF cut Bosnia's 2018 economic growth forecast to 3.2 percent from 3.5 percent previously, citing downside risks from domestic politics even as macroeconomic conditions remained stable.
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