Oslobođenje: The proposed Draft budget of the Republic of Srpska for 2009 is 1.670.000.000 KM and it is bigger by 6% in relation to the rebalance of the budget, has been notified yesterday by the Minister of Finance of the RS, Aleksandar Džombić.
Pensioners go to the Court
The Association of pensioners of the RS will sue to the regular and the Constitutional Court of the RS, all those who have participated in preparation of the Draft budget of the RS, because they think that the Draft is discriminative, not fair and unjust towards the pensioners, has been announced by a chairman of this association, Rade Rakulj. Rakulj thinks that this act is especially unjust towards pensioners who went to their retirement through their work, “and who are being thieved in the way that the RS has given this right to about 61.000 pensioners who have not achieved it through work”. It is about the pensions of soldiers from pervious war, families of killed and disappeared soldiers and the users of other different rights, of which there are 9, and from which not even 50% of needs can be financed by the funds which the RS ensures by the budget, so the funds are being overrun from contributions, or from a part which has been dedicated to the pensioners of work.
In his introductory addressing to the delegates at the special session of the National Assembly of the RS in Banja Luka, by explaining the Draft budget for the next year, he has explained that the budget consists of domestic revenues of 1.616.000.000 KM, financing on the basis of received payments stated loans to the final users and foreign credits of 54 million KM, while the total expenditures of 1.435.400.000 KM are related to domestic budget expenditure.
Expected discussion on budget has divided the government and opposition, and by its height and way of distribution of the funds, the unions and representatives of pensioners are dissatisfied.
The chairman of the Assembly, Igor Radojičić has graded that the Draft budget of the RS for 2009 is an optimistic option, because it predicts a growth of revenues of 6% in conditions of the global economic and financial crisis.
“Budget is ambitious, because it is hard to predict the possibility of some optimal economic growth, and it is realistic to expect the problems, firstly with economy, trade and production, from which comes a good part of a budget capture”, he said to journalists.
Optimistic predictions, Radojičić explains, is based on the beginning of work of the Oil Refinery in Bosanski Brod, from which significant financial effects are expected, and from the introduction of an order in the field of lottery after the adoption of this law, and from the effects of fiscalization and better control of commodity flow.
The Union against freezing of salaries
The chairman of the Union of workers of internal affairs, Duško Jandrić has said that he does not agree with the proposed Draft budget because of the social reasons, complaining about freezing of the salaries in the next year, “by which the realization of tasks of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the RS, has become questioned”. By addressing the delegates, Jandrić has said that this union has not been consulted during the Draft budget preparation.
He has said that because of the global economic crisis, which will probably overtake the market of the RS and BiH, the problems in production and trade will show up, because the predictions are that it will come to significant downfall of trade in the first half of next year, which would mean the downfall of revenues as well.
While speaking of expenditures, Radojičić has said that they are in a frame of proclaimed saving, which means that we will try to keep the existing level of receiving, but there will also be some “cropping” of material expenditures, investments, reconstructive maintaining, procurement of equipment, and similar.