WORLD BANK ACCOUNTS FOR ABOUT 50% OF BOSNIAN FOREIGN DEBT

SARAJEVO, Bosnia (July 18,2008) - The Bosnian Finance Minister Dragan Vrankic talked with a delegation of the World Bank in the Bosnian capital Sarajevo yesterday which was helmed by Shigeo Katsu.

Vrankic said after the meeting that they were discussing the current political and economic issues in the country, the bank’s portfolio in Bosnia, and problems in its implementation. Possible future projects were also discussed, mainly in the areas of environmental protection, local communities and infrastructure, and worth 250 million Bosnian Marks.

Vrankic said that almost half of the country’s foreign debt (which totals 4 billion Bosnian Marks) is to the World Bank, and that its financial backing is a considerable contribution to restructuring processes.

“A general agreement is that Bosnia can keep the pace, but needs to make a step towards economic prosperity through the inflow of foreign capital, through investments. These, however, require a certain environment. If we provide that, then we have a chance of solving Bosnia’s biggest problem – unemployment”, Vrankic said.
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