The Minister of Finance and Treasury in the Council of Ministers, Zoran Tegeltija, expressed the hope that by stabilizing the market for food and energy prices, which is clearly occurring, inflation will slow down and that it will be at an acceptable level by 2025.
“I think that this year inflation will stabilize to five percent, and that by the end of 2024 it will return to between two and three percent“, Tegeltija told ATV.
He added that the government fights against the consequences of inflation on the living standards of citizens and the economy, judging that the governments of Republika Srpska and FBiH worked well in crisis periods, and that the Council of Ministers is not a typical government, which is why it is sometimes much more difficult to make decisions there than in governments.
Speaking about the new bloc of political parties in FBiH, Tegeltija stated that the SDA had an arrogant attitude towards political partners in the previous period, and that the parties in the new political bloc have new energy and ambition for change.
Tegeltija said that he does not know if he will be the future director of the BiH Indirect Taxation Administration, recalling that in 2009 he was the best-ranked candidate for that position, but he was not elected because Bosniaks did not vote for it.
He pointed out that this year marks the 20th anniversary of the establishment of the Indirect Taxation Authority, and that a Serb has never been the director of that institution.
“If I become director, I know what needs to be done to make the Administration even better. After 20 years, the Administration definitely needs legal, organizational, and personnel adjustments.”said Tegeltija.
He believes that the Law on VAT should not have been adopted in the form it is in today, as well as that a uniform VAT rate should not have been adopted.
Tegeltija added that, if he is elected to the position of Director of the Administration, SNSD will establish a new proposal for his position in the Council of Ministers.
Speaking about the change of the director of the Intelligence and Security Agency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Tegeltija stated that OBA is an extremely important agency that has been the subject of much controversy when it comes to the formation of a new leadership.
“We’ll see what’s behind it all. There are some strange messages coming in. At the moment we don’t have any indication that anything special has changed.”said Tegeltija.
When it comes to SNSD, whose leadership he is in, Tegeltija emphasized that he was never someone “who made his own currents” and pointed out that SNSD has shown that it has continuity in leading the state and the ability to lead in the most difficult situations.
“Citizens recognized and rewarded this in the 2022 elections”said Tegeltija.
He believes that some other people should be given a chance in the SNSD and that these people should be the bearers of the election cycle in 2026.
When it comes to the political situation in Republika Srpska and the opposition in Srpska, Tegeltija stated that nothing will change on the political scene of Republika Srpska, that the opposition is continuously losing the support of the citizens of Srpska and that this will be confirmed in the 2024 elections.
“They have a continuity of constant bad stories about the Republika Srpska where they become unbelievable and where the citizens consciously punish them for such an attitude towards the Srpska. The only thing that I see that is new in the opposition is the stratification of the opposition, that is, the creation of new political parties.”said Tegeltija and added that such a stratification process is also visible in the formation of Jelena Trivić’s new party.
(Srna)