Bosnia And Herzegovina 

Bosnia And Herzegovina country policy

Policy established 20 February 2004

• The country ceiling is 30 mln euro
• Early warning signal 30 mln euro
• - of which was used as at 2012-02-29 10 mln euro
• Private buyers: SIF facility

Country class: 7

Bosnia And Herzegovina country facts

Atradius Dutch State Business  Economic Research
Country Report last updated 13 July 2011

Country
BOSNIA-HERCEGOVINA

Political Situation

Complex Political Structure

Head of state
Rotating presidency.

Form of government
Bosnia (BiH) is composed of a Muslim-Croat Federation  (MCF; 51% of the territory) and the Serb Republic Srpska (RS), both with far-reaching administrative autonomy.
 
Internal Economic Situation
Modest Recovery; Weak Structure

General situation
Following the 2009-recession, the BiH-economy returned to modest GDP-growth in 2010 (0.8%) largely due to some resurgence in exports to regional markets. Domestic demand still subdued because of high unemployment and public spending cuts. Structural reform, incl. privatizations, is slow and economic policy co-ordination between MCF and RS is negligible.

EXTERNAL ECONOMIC SITUATION : LARGE EXTERNAL IMBALANCES

Main sources of foreign exchange
International financial aid, other transfers; base metals (23%), wood products (15%), minerals, textiles/footwear.

Main foreign markets
EU (68%), Croatia (18%), Serbia (8%).

Main expenses of foreign exchange
Construction material, consumer goods.

Balance of payments  
Very large trade deficits despite high international aluminium and steel prices. These deficits are partly being financed by workers’ transfers and IMF funding. But still high current account deficits remain, keeping reserves at a modest level.