Bosnia and Hercegovina

Politics:

• Analysis

  Bosnia and Hercegovina politics: Quick View - New ruling coalition gets dow

  Event

  The six parties that form the ruling coalition have submitted a set of legislative proposals to the newly reshuffled central government, taking their first concrete step to introduce EU mandated reforms since a six-month political crisis was resolved in November.

  Analysis

  The reshuffle of November 22nd marked the ejection from the government of the SDA, the main group representing Bosniaks, and its replacement by a relatively new Bosniak party, the SBB. Apart from that change, the composition of the central government-which brings together the leading parties representing Bosniaks, Bosnian Serbs and Bosnian Croats-has remained unchanged.

  The new ruling coalition is trying to make up for time lost during the prolonged political deadlock. The paralysis held up the adoption of reforms, thereby preventing BiH from submitting an application for EU membership in 2012, as the government planned. The proposals submitted to the government include changes to the election law and the law on the appointment of judges. Among the immediate priorities agreed by the ruling parties is the adoption of a model for the co-ordination of negotiations with the EU, the implementation of the European Court of Human Rights ruling of 2009 on the removal of ethnically based discrimination in elections to some public posts, and a reshuffle of the Federation government.

  Until now, failure to implement the ruling-which requires amendments to the constitution-has been the main obstacle preventing BiH from submitting a credible application for EU membership. Attempts to deal with this will be in the focus of attention, along with moves to reshuffle the Federation government, where the SDA and two small Bosnian Croat parties are resisting attempts to oust them from the ruling coalition. The Federation prime minister, Nermin Niksic, has asked the Federation president, Zivko Budimir, to dismiss the ministers who belong to parties that are no longer part of the parliamentary majority. However, Mr Budimir, who belongs to one of these parties, has firmly opposed attempts to remove his party and its allies from the government, and on December 20th he rejected the request.

  December 20, 2012

• Background

  Bosnia and Hercegovina: Key figures

  Haris Silajdzic

  Mr Silajdzic founded the mostly Bosniak (Bosnian Muslim) Party for Bosnia and Hercegovina (SzBiH) in 1996. He was formerly an ally of Alija Izetbegovic, who founded the Party of Democratic Action (SDA) and was BiH's president during the 1992-95 war. Both Mr Silajdzic and Sulejman Tihic, who became the SDA leader following Mr Izetbegovic's death in 2003, are trying to become the de facto Bosniak leader in BiH. In October 2006 Mr Silajdzic was elected as the Bosniak member of BiH's tripartite central presidency, easily defeating Mr Tihic, and he was also instrumental in the SzBiH's success in the parliamentary election held at the same time.

  Milorad Dodik

  Mr Dodik has been BiH's leading Bosnian Serb politician in recent years. He is the founder and leader of the Alliance of Independent Social Democrats (SNSD) and has been prime minister of Republika Srpska (RS) since February 2006. Mr Dodik entered politics during the 1992-95 war in opposition to the extreme nationalists spearheading the Serb Democratic Party (SDS). He earned a reputation as a brave and uncompromising politician, often risking his personal security in arguing his position on issues such as war crimes and the SDS's connections with the local and Serbian mafia. Mr Dodik has adopted an increasingly nationalist tone, making the preservation of RS's semi-statehood the centrepiece of his platform, although he has also emphasised economic development.

  Nikola Spiric

  Mr Spiric became chairman of the Council of Ministers (the state-level cabinet) in early 2007, making him de facto prime minister of BiH. Mr Spiric, a member of the SNSD and an economist by training, is the first Bosnian Serb to serve as BiH's prime minister. He has pledged to increase the population's living standards and to focus on BiH's Euro-Atlantic integration. He resigned in November 2007 in protest at plans by the international High Representative in BiH, Miroslav Lajcak, to simplify decision-making in state-level institutions, but remained in office in a caretaker capacity. He was reappointed as prime minister in early 2008, after Mr Lajcak agreed to concessions favouring the Bosnian Serbs.

  Sulejman Tihic

  Mr Tihic leads the SDA and is a former Bosniak member of BiH's rotating state presidency. His wartime experience in a Bosnian Serb detention camp has had a major impact on his political views. Mr Tihic was the hand-picked successor of the late Mr Izetbegovic, who founded the SDA. However, the SDA's hardline nationalist faction has long opposed Mr Tihic's strategy of transforming the SDA into a modern centrist party, since this would reduce the influence of some of the party's more nationalistic founders, many of whom have links to clerical structures in BiH. He remains under pressure from the party rank and file, and also from Mr Silajdzic of the SzBiH.

  Dragan Covic

  Mr Covic remained leader of the Croatian Democratic Union of BiH (HDZ BiH) after the party's split in April 2006, which resulted in the formation of the more hardline HDZ 1990 splinter group. Mr Covic represents the more moderate faction of the HDZ BiH, which is in favour of co-operating with the international community, but at the same time is devoted to the Bosnian Croat autonomy agenda. Born in the southern city of Mostar, he holds a doctorate in economics. In May 2005 he was removed from the BiH presidency by the international community over corruption charges.

  The judiciary

  The Constitutional Court of BiH is the highest judicial authority and consists of nine judges. The BiH State Court was inaugurated in 2002 and deals with matters under the jurisdiction of the state, such as passports, identity cards, illegal immigration, human trafficking and inter-entity legal issues. Both entities have Supreme Courts. There are also cantonal and municipal courts in the Federation and municipal courts in RS. In March 2001 the OHR set up the Independent Judicial Commission (IJC) to conduct a comprehensive judicial reform. The essence of the reform was to rationalise the number of courts in both entities, to enable balanced ethnic representation among the judges, and to develop a standardised system of remuneration and training supportive of a professional and independent judiciary. As part of this reform, a state-level Higher Judicial and Prosecution Council (HJPC) was established to oversee the appointment of judges and prosecutors in both entities. The Constitutional Court does not fall under the jurisdiction of the HJPC. In 2005 the judicial reform programme marked a significant step with the establishment of a local war-crimes court, which has begun to try people accused of war crimes whose cases have either been brought locally or been transferred from the International Criminal Tribunal for former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in The Hague.

  The legislature

  Under the BiH constitution, supreme legislative authority is vested in the bicameral parliament of BiH, which comprises the House of Representatives and the House of Peoples. Two-thirds of the members of each house are elected by the Bosniak-Bosnian Croat Federation, and the remainder by RS. All legislation requires the approval of both chambers. Because of the ethnic composition of the parliament and the use of a "vital national interest" clause, this requirement has caused frequent delays in legislative procedure, often necessitating the High Representative's intervention. The Federation, RS and Brcko district all have their own parliaments, as do the ten cantons in the Federation.

  Media services

  The development of free media in BiH has received much international attention as part of the post-war rehabilitation process. BiH has six daily newspapers (of which four are produced in the Federation and two in RS), about 40 private television stations and three public ones. There are four public radio stations and well over 100 private ones, most of which are local. There are press agencies in the capital, Sarajevo, and in Banja Luka and Mostar. The quality of reporting is often poor and politically charged. Adoption of a new state-level public broadcasting law is one of the EU's preconditions for signing a stabilisation and association agreement (SAA) with BiH. Although progress towards the necessary legislation has faltered over Bosnian Croat demands for a Croatian-language public TV channel, the EU is nevertheless likely to sign the SAA in May 2008.

  Democracy index (for methodology, see Appendix)

  The Economist Intelligence Unit's 2006 democracy index ranks Bosnia and Hercegovina (BiH) 86th out of 167 countries, putting it among those states considered to be hybrid regimes. BiH's weakest score is in the "Government functioning" category, reflecting shortcomings in the complex and multi-layered system of governance set out by the Dayton peace agreement after the 1992-95 war. Political structures are perceived to be complicated, inefficient and tainted by corruption. A package of constitutional amendments aimed at strengthening the central state-level government was rejected by the state parliament in April 2006, and fresh talks on constitutional reform in early 2008 have made little progress.

  The legacy of the war, together with years of heavy intervention by the international organisations working in BiH, have stunted the development of the political system, contributing to the low scores for political participation and political culture. Critics say the extensive powers held by the Office of the High Representative (OHR), including the power to impose legislation and dismiss local officials, have discouraged politicians in BiH from taking responsibility for major policy decisions. BiH's overall score is pulled up by the civil liberties and electoral process categories. The better scores in these areas reflect in part the constitutional safeguards for BiH's different ethnic groups contained in the Dayton agreement.

  Democracy index
  	Overall score	Overall rank	Electoral process	Government functioning	Political participation	Political culture	Civil liberties	Regime type
  Bosnia and Hercegovina	5.70	86	7.83	3.29	4.44	5.00	7.94	Hybrid regime
  Overall and component scores are on a scale of 0 to 10; overall rank is out of 167 countries.

  Download text file (csv format)

  May 14, 2008

• Structure

  Bosnia and Hercegovina: Political structure

  Official name

  Bosnia and Hercegovina (BiH) exists within the boundaries of the former Yugoslav republic of the same name. It includes two largely autonomous entities: the Federation of Bosnia and Hercegovina and Republika Srpska (RS). It also includes a self-governing district, Brcko, under the direct authority of the central state government

  State competencies

  The central state-level BiH government was granted limited responsibilities under the 1995 Dayton peace agreement. These included the establishment of a Constitutional Court, a Commission for Displaced Persons, a Human Rights Commission, a central bank, public corporations to manage and operate transport and telecommunications, a Commission to Preserve National Monuments, and a system of arbitration. Foreign trade deals are also negotiated by the BiH government. In subsequent years ministries of justice, security and defence were also created at state level, and the state presidency assumed command of the armed forces in 2003. A unified state-wide indirect tax administration was created in the run-up to the introduction of value-added tax (VAT) in 2006

  Legislatures

  BiH has a bicameral parliament comprising the House of Representatives and the House of Peoples, two-thirds of the members of which are elected from the Federation and one-third from the RS. A valid majority requires the support of at least one-third of the members representing each entity. The Federation and the RS also have parliaments

  National elections

  General elections took place on October 3rd 2010 to select a three-member state presidency, the RS president, and state, entity and cantonal parliaments. Next elections due in October 2014

  Head of state

  BiH has a rotating, collective, three-member presidency. The members are Nebojsa Radmanovic (Serb), Bakir Izetbegovic (Bosniak) and Zeljko Komsic (Croat)

  National government

  The Council of Ministers is BiH's state-level cabinet, headed by a chair, who is the country's de facto prime minister. Members serve four-year terms. The entities, the ten cantons within the Federation and Brcko district also have their own governments

  Main political parties

  Party of Democratic Action (SDA), Party for BiH (SzBiH), Social Democratic Party of BiH (SDP BiH), Croatian Democratic Union of BiH (HDZ BiH), Croatian Democratic Union 1990 (HDZ 1990), People's Party for Progress through Work (NSRzB), Croatian Party of Rights of BiH (HSP BiH), Alliance of Independent Social Democrats (SNSD), Serbian Democratic Party (SDS), Democratic People's Alliance (NDS), Socialist Party of RS (SPRS)

  International involvement

  The Dayton agreement established the Office of the High Representative (OHR), charged with monitoring the implementation of the agreement and co-ordinating the activities of international organisations. Since December 1997 the High Representative has been able to impose decisions in cases of disagreement and to dismiss "obstructive" officials

  National government

  Chairman: Vjekoslav Bevanda (HDZ BiH)

  Key ministers

  Civil affairs: Sredoje Novic (SNSD)

  Communications & transport: Damir Hadzic (SDP BiH)

  Defence: Muhamed Ibrahimovic (SDA)

  Finance: Nikola Spiric (SNSD)

  Foreign affairs: Zlatko Lagumdzija (SDP BiH)

  Foreign trade & economic relations: Mirko Sarovic (SDS)

  Human rights & refugees: Damir Ljubic (HDZ 1990)

  Justice: Barisa Colak (HDZ BiH)

  Security: Sadik Ahmetovic (SDA)

  Central Bank governor

  Kemal Kozaric

  High Representative

  Valentin Inzko

  Federation

  President: Zivko Budimir (HSP BiH)

  Vice-presidents:

   Mirsad Kebo (SDA)

   Svetozar Pudaric (SDP BiH)

  Prime minister: Nermin Niksic (SDP BiH)

  Deputy prime minister & minister of agriculture: Jerko Ivankovic Lijanovic (NSRzB)

  Deputy prime minister & minister of physical planning: Desnica Radivojevic (SDA)

  Key ministers

  Culture & sport: Salmir Kaplan (SDA)

  Development, entrepreneurship & crafts: Sanjin Halimovic (SDA)

  Displaced persons & refugees: Adil Osmanovic (SDA)

  Education & science: Damir Masic (SDP BiH)

  Energy, mining & industry: Eldar Trhulj (SDA)

  Environment & tourism: Branka Djuric (SDP BiH)

  Finance: Anto Krajina (HSP BiH)

  Health: Rusmir Mesihovic (SDP BiH)

  Interior: Predrag Kurtes (SDP BiH)

  Justice: Zoran Mikulic (SDP BiH)

  Labour & social policy: Vjekoslav Camber (HSP BiH)

  Trade: Milorad Bahilj (NSRzB)

  Transport & communications: Emir Bijedic (SDP BiH)

  Veterans' affairs: Zukan Helez (SDP BiH)

  Republika Srpska

  President: Milorad Dodik (SNSD)

  Vice-presidents:

   Enes Suljkanovic (SDP BiH)

   Emil Vlajki (DNS)

  Prime minister: Aleksandar Dzombic (SNSD)

  Deputy prime ministers:

   Anton Kasipovic (independent)

   Dzerard Selman (SzBiH)

  Key ministers

  Administration & local government: Lejla Resic (DNS)

  Agriculture, forestry & water management: Miroslav Milovanovic (SNSD)

  Economic relations & regional co-operation: Zeljka Cvijanovic (SNSD)

  Education & culture: Anton Kasipovic (independent)

  Family, youth & sport: Nada Tesanovic (SNSD)

  Finance: Zoran Tegeltija (SNSD)

  Health & social welfare: Ranko Skrbic (SNSD)

  Industry, energy & mining: Zeljko Kovacevic (SNSD)

  Interior: Stanislav Cadjo (SNSD)

  Justice: Dzerard Selman (SzBiH)

  Labour & veterans: Petar Djokic (SPRS)

  Physical planning, urbanism & ecology: Srebrenka Golic (SNSD)

  Refugees & displaced persons: Davor Cordas (HDZ BiH)

  Science & technology: Jasmin Komic (independent)

  Trade & tourism: Gorana Zlatkovic (SPRS)

  Transport & communications: Nedeljko Cubrilovic (DNS)

  November 16, 2012

• Outlook

  Bosnia and Hercegovina: Key developments

  Outlook for 2013-17

  • Political stability in Bosnia and Hercegovina (BiH) remains shaky, with a protracted reshuffle of the new central government underway and planned austerity measures raising the risk of social unrest.
  • The coalition government's plan to apply for EU membership in the coming months is likely to be thrown off course by the failure to adopt reforms, as required by the EU, before a credible application can be submitted.
  • The president of Republika Srpska (RS), Milorad Dodik, will continue to assert the powers of his entity against efforts by Western countries and Bosniak (Bosnian Muslim) leaders to strengthen central state institutions.
  • The international Office of the High Representative (OHR), which has overseen BiH's development since 1995, is likely to be phased out in 2013-14.
  • The RS and BiH's other entity, the Bosniak-Bosnian Croat Federation, will tighten fiscal policy, as required by BiH's new agreement with the IMF, but the implementation of austerity measures will proceed slowly.
  • The Economist Intelligence Unit forecasts that after shrinking by an estimated 0.2% in 2012, real GDP will grow by 0.8% in 2013. Growth is forecast to accelerate to an average of 3% a year in 2014-17, as external demand picks up.
  • The current-account deficit is forecast to shrink from an estimated 7.9% of GDP in 2012 to an average of 6.1% of GDP in 2013-14 as international oil prices decline. The deficit will widen to an average of 7.6% of GDP in 2015-17.

  Review

  • The local elections on October 7th produced victories for the long-established nationalist parties representing the three constituent peoples.
  • Parliament voted on 22nd October to dismiss two ministers representing the main Bosniak political force, the Party of Democratic Action (SDA), following a five-month deadlock that paralysed the central government.
  • The European Commission's annual progress report on BiH, issued on October 10th, was highly critical, noting that BiH had missed deadlines agreed in a road map to help BiH to submit a credible application to join the EU.
  • Fiscal performance was poor in January-September, with indirect tax receipts rising by only 0.05% year on year, as economic activity weakened.
  • Inflation remained subdued in September as the consumer price index (CPI) rose by 2.1% year on year in the Federation and 2.5% in the RS.
  • In January-September exports shrank by 12.5% year on year in US dollar terms, and imports shrank by 9.1%, with the trade deficit narrowing by 5.6%, to US$3.59bn.

  November 16, 2012

Economy:

• Background

  Bosnia and Hercegovina: Economic background

  Real gross domestic product by sector
  (% share of GDP)
  	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006
  Agriculture	12.1	9.7	10.5	10.3	10.2
  Industry	21.1	19.2	19.3	19.3	19.1
  Services	61.8	65.9	65.2	65.4	66.0
  Source: Economist Intelligence Unit.

  Download text file (csv format)

  Physical destruction, lack of investment and failure to restructure resulted in a profound de-industrialisation of BiH during the 1990s. Industry was once the most important sector of economic activity, accounting for over 50% of GDP, and was BiH's major export sector in the late 1980s, but its share (excluding construction) has declined to about 20% of GDP. Despite significant demand for reconstruction work after the war, the construction sector has remained a relatively modest contributor to the overall economy and accounts for about 5% of GDP.

  Industrial decline in BiH has been accompanied by growth in services, which account for about 65% of GDP. A significant portion of services output is generated by the public administration and defence forces, reflecting the country's complex, multi-layered governance structure. Productive services represent a smaller share of the total, although retail trade, telecommunications and financial services have grown rapidly in recent years with help from foreign investors.

  Increasing services output, along with falling productivity in the farming sector, has pushed agricultural output down to around 10% of GDP. The share of agriculture in GDP is twice as high in Republika Srpska (RS) as in the Bosniak (Bosnian Muslim)-Bosnian Croat Federation.

  May 14, 2008

• Structure

  Bosnia and Hercegovina: Economic structure

  Data and charts: Annual trends charts

  
  

  

  November 16, 2012

• Outlook

  Bosnia and Hercegovina: Country outlook

  Bosnia and Hercegovina: Country outlook

  FROM THE ECONOMIST INTELLIGENCE UNIT

  POLITICAL STABILITY: Political stability in Bosnia and Hercegovina (BiH) remains precarious, despite the formation of a new state-level ruling coalition in February 2012. The emergence of a new government appeared to have ended a protracted political crisis that began with the parliamentary and presidential elections at state and entity levels in October 2010, but fresh disputes have emerged since. In May the decision of the Party of Democratic Action (SDA)--the main political group representing Bosniaks (Bosnian Muslims)--to vote against the 2012 budget brought it into conflict with its former ally, the Social Democratic Party of BiH (SDP BiH), which is strictly speaking not ethnically based, but receives most of its support from Bosniaks.

  ELECTION WATCH: Local elections on October 7th ended in victory for the three long-established nationalist parties: the SDA; the Croatian Democratic Union of BiH (HDZ BiH); and the Serbian Democratic Party (SDS), which dominated Bosnian Serb politics during the war of 1992-95 and for a decade afterwards. The large gains made by the SDS appear to indicate that the electorate in Republika Srpsks (RS) has become disenchanted with the Alliance of Independent Social Democrats (SNSD), which has held a monopoly on core positions of power in recent years. If that trend continues, the SNSD may face a much stronger challenge at the next parliamentary election, due in October 2014, than it did on the previous two occasions.

  INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS: BiH signed a stabilisation and association agreement (SAA) with the EU in 2008. The new government has been planning to apply for EU membership before end-2012. However, given the slow pace of reforms in recent years--and the six-month crisis that paralysed the central government until November--this goal is all but impossible to attain. In the latest setback, BiH leaders missed a deadline at end-August 2012 to agree constitutional amendments to end ethnically based discrimination in elections, as required by a road map provided by the European Commission in June 2012. As a result, another deadline--the adoption by parliament of the required constitutional amendments by November 30th--will have been missed, and BiH has no chance of lodging a credible membership application before the EU summit in December. The BiH authorities will need to accelerate the reform process in 2013 if the country is not to lag behind its western Balkan peers in its EU integration. Even after that step (whenever it comes), closer EU integration is likely to be hindered by the loss of appetite for further enlargement among leading EU members.

  POLICY TRENDS: The new stand-by arrangement with the IMF, together with the SAA, will set the broad policy framework for BiH in the forecast period. Under the two-year, US$521m IMF agreement--endorsed by the Fund's executive board on September 26th--BiH will continue to concentrate on maintaining macroeconomic stability through fiscal consolidation. The Fund is calling for greater fiscal discipline, reform of the social benefits system and privatisation. Although the authorities will focus in the next few months on short-term measures to mitigate the impact on BiH of the economic downturn in the euro zone, the sale of publicly owned stakes in companies should resume in 2013. The reduction or abolition of customs duties on imports from the EU--as part of the implementation of the SAA--will continue to increase competition for many local producers. The process will be completed by the end of the forecast period.

  ECONOMIC GROWTH: Economic recovery since the recession of 2009 has been sluggish; real GDP grew by only 1.3% in 2011. The recovery has been modest because growth in private consumption has been constrained by increased unemployment and by the measures taken to rein in the budget deficit. Several of these factors will continue to restrict growth in the short term, and the need for fiscal consolidation, as required by the IMF, will lead to additional austerity measures to narrow the budget deficit. Economic growth will be further dampened by the gloomy outlook in the euro zone, where the Economist Intelligence Unit estimates a contraction in real GDP of 0.4% in 2012. In view of the 0.6% year-on-year decline in real GDP in the RS in the first half of 2012--and the year-on-year contractions in industrial output, construction and exports in January-October in BiH as a whole--we estimate that the economy has entered a double-dip recession in 2012, with real GDP shrinking by 0.5% year on year.

  INFLATION: Inflation has decelerated since 2011--when it was 3.7%--mainly because of declining international non-oil commodity prices and weakening domestic demand. We estimate that inflation slowed to 2.2% in 2012. We forecast that inflationary pressures in 2013 will be kept in check by lower international oil prices, high unemployment and further cuts in public-sector wages. We forecast that in 2014-17 a modest pick-up in domestic demand and a gradual rise in international commodity prices will result in stronger inflationary pressures, with the consumer price index (CPI) rising by an average of 3.3% a year.

  EXCHANGE RATES: Concerns that the convertible marka may be overvalued have been eased by a sharp weakening of the euro, to which the marka is pegged. We forecast a further modest depreciation of the euro in 2013-15. Competitiveness will also be improved by cuts in public-sector pay, which are likely to depress wages across the board. The Central Bank of BiH maintains sufficient reserves to cover the whole of its monetary liabilities. With a weakening of exports and foreign-currency inflows from migrant workers' remittances, reserves have been shrinking since mid-2011. However, further IMF funding and increased remittances should help to increase reserves in the forecast period.

  EXTERNAL SECTOR: The import costs of energy, estimated to have remained stable in 2012, are forecast to decline in 2013, reflecting a subdued global economic recovery. Import demand is set to remain sluggish in 2013 as private consumption stagnates and the need for fiscal consolidation limits new infrastructure investment. The prolonged double-dip recession in the euro zone forecast for 2013 will constrain demand for exports. In subsequent years exports should rebound, benefiting from faster growth in the EU and relatively high international aluminium prices. Given lower import prices and weak domestic demand, we forecast a contraction in the current-account deficit to 6.2% of GDP on average in 2013-14, compared with an estimated 7.9% of GDP in 2012. We forecast that following a modest rebound in international commodity prices and stronger domestic demand, the current-account deficit will widen to an annual average of 7.7% of GDP in 2015-17.

  December 01, 2012

• Forecast

  Bosnia and Hercegovina: 5-year forecast summary

  Outlook for 2012-16: Forecast summary

  Forecast summary
  (% unless otherwise indicated)
  	2011a	2012b	2013b	2014b	2015b	2016b
  Real GDP growth	1.3	-0.2	0.8	2.5	2.9	3.2
  Industrial production growth	3.1c	-4.3	2.5	3.8	4.0	4.5
  Average lending rate (%)d	7.1c	7.3	7.2	7.4	7.5	7.8
  Consumer prices (av; % change)	3.7c	2.2	2.1	3.0	3.2	3.5
  Exports of goods fob (US$ bn)	6.0	5.4	5.6	5.9	6.3	6.8
  Imports of goods fob (US$ bn)	-11.1	-10.2	-10.3	-10.6	-11.5	-12.4
  Current-account balance (US$ bn)	-1.6	-1.4	-1.1	-1.1	-1.4	-1.6
  Current-account balance (% of GDP)	-8.6	-8.0	-6.4	-5.7	-7.3	-7.6
  External debt (year-end; US$ bn)	8.8	9.0	9.4	9.8	10.3	10.7
  Exchange rate KM:US$ (av)	1.48c	1.41c	1.54	1.55	1.58	1.55
  Exchange rate KM:US$ (end-period)	1.46c	1.51c	1.53	1.56	1.56	1.56
  a Economist Intelligence Unit estimates. b Economist Intelligence Unit forecasts. c Actual. d Period average.

  Download the numbers in Excel

  Download text file (csv format)

  September 20, 2012

View detailed map

Country Briefing

Land area

51,209 sq km (14% arable, 20% pasture and 40% forest)

Population

4.3m at the last census (1991); estimated at 3.84m in mid-2007

Main towns

Population in '000 (a) (1991)

Sarajevo (capital): 526

Tuzla: 132

Banja Luka: 195

Mostar: 126

Zenica: 146

Prijedor: 112

(a) There have been considerable unrecorded changes owing to the war in 1992-95. The population of most towns has increased greatly as a result of refugee movements during the war

Climate

Continental in Bosnia and parts of Hercegovina; sub-Mediterranean in southern Hercegovina

Weather in Sarajevo

Hottest month, July, 18-23°C; coldest month, December, 0-2°C; wettest month, June, 110-115 mm average rainfall; driest month, December, 20-70 mm average rainfall

Languages

Bosnian, Serbian, Croatian (which are very similar, with the exception of the use of the Cyrillic alphabet in Serbian)

Measures

Metric system

Currency

The convertible marka (KM), subdivided into 100 pfenig, was introduced in June 1998 at a fixed rate of KM1:DM1 (since the introduction of the euro, KM1.96:€1)

Time

One hour ahead of GMT in winter; two hours ahead in summer

Fiscal year

Calendar year

March 12, 2012