Minister of Finance Of the Republic of Srpska Zora Vidović stated at the First Investment Conference of the RS Investment and Development Bank held in Laktaši that she is optimistic in regards to the economic recovery of the Republic of Srpska after the pandemic, especially the growth of industrial production and foreign trade, and that she expects gross domestic product growth of 4 to 4.5% by the end of the year.
Addressing the panel “Economic Challenges in the Republic of Srpska”, the Minister stated that challenges create opportunities, and that the Republic of Srpska can make greater economic progress if the existing opportunities created during the challenge brought by the pandemic are used.
She emphasized that the basic guideline should be investments, both domestic and foreign, separating the areas of infrastructure, which raises to a higher level the quality of the business environment, energy, but also the capital market.
– The capital market is becoming a profitable area, capital movements are constant, and the Republic of Srpska has a chance to attract funds, which is why the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Srpska is working intensively on amending the Capital Market Law, which is on the agenda of the next National Assembly session – said the Minister Vidović, adding that it could be a chance for new investments.
Speaking about the business environment, the Minister announced that the Government of the Republic of Srpska is making analyzes with the aim of reducing the level of burden on salaries and reducing the gray economy from next year, and pointed out that the introduction of a new fiscalization system based on the model of the Republic of Serbia will be legally regulated, which would overcome the outdated system and significantly suppress the gray economy.
-If the level of the gray economy were reduced, instead of the growth of 2.1%, we would certainly have a growth of the gross domestic product by 3.5% – the Minister of Finance assessed, stating that systemic measures are needed to solve the sources of the gray economy, that is, in the occurrence of non-registration of turnover and non-registration of workers.
The Minister added that the problem is also the non-taxation of dividends, which causes abuse. That tax in Serbia is taxed at a rate of 15%. She added that the dividend tax will be adopted at the same time as in the Federation of BH.
