BOSNIA TO SPEND OVER 2 BILLION BOSNIAN MARKS THIS YEAR ON FOOD IMPORT

SARAJEVO, Bosnia (May 29,2008) - In the first four months of 2008 the local traders in Bosnia spent 720 million Bosnian Marks on imported food and beverages. Cereals and their products accounted for the biggest share – 155 million Bosnian Marks. Fruit and vegetables were the second most imported items, worth 92 million Bosnian Marks, and followed by coffee, tea, spices, sugar, dairy products, eggs, meat, and so on. 32 million Bosnian Marks was spent on imported cooking oil.

At the same time, official statistics show, Bosnia’s food exports amounted to 89 million Bosnian Marks, which means that the export/import ratio was only 12 per cent.

If the trend continues, Bosnia will spend somewhere around 2.1 billion Bosnian Marks by the end of 2008 on food, beverages and oil alone. Retail mark-up is sometimes as high as 30 per cent.
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