The Government of the Federation of BiH, at today's session in Mostar, adopted a Regulation on the amendment of the Regulation on assistance to the population due to the increase in the consumer price index. Remaining committed to the principle according to which surplus public revenues are directed directly to the citizens who need them the most, the Government in this way expands the coverage of its assistance program and includes unemployed persons in it.
Those who had the status of unemployed according to the records of the Federal Employment Service as of August 31, 2022, have the right to a one-time monetary compensation.
As a reminder, SBB has been proposing for some time to provide long-term assistance for unemployed persons in the amount of 200 KM.
Although the SBB initiative was not fully implemented, it seems that it inspired the Government of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina to act.
This benefit is considered income during unemployment and inability to work according to the provisions of the Law on Mediation in Employment and Social Security of Unemployed Persons and amounts to 100 KM.
The total funds for payment will be provided in the FBiH Budget for 2022. The funds for the payment of the one-time monetary compensation will be transferred to the cantonal employment services, after they submit the request for payment, together with the final list of beneficiaries.
The government will determine the final amount of funds that will be transferred to each of the cantonal employment services. The competent cantonal employment service will pay a one-time monetary compensation by payment to the transaction accounts of the unemployed no later than November 30, 2022.
If the competent cantonal employment service does not have information about the transaction account or that information is not valid (e.g. the wrong number of the transaction account is specified or it has been closed in the meantime), the person exercising the right to compensation is obliged, no later than October 30, 2022. year, to submit valid information about his/her transaction account to the competent cantonal employment service. If he/she does not submit it within the specified period, he/she loses the right to a one-time monetary compensation.
With the amendment, a new paragraph was added to the Regulation in Article 19, which states that special criteria for payment and the amount of payment of one-time assistance will be determined by the employer's act.
The amended regulation enters into force the day after its publication in the Official Gazette of FBiH.
In the explanation of the amended Regulation, it was stated that the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina continues to face significant inflationary pressures that increasingly affect its citizens. Unfortunately, these price increases do not affect all citizens equally and are especially painful for those of lower financial status, whose living standards have particularly suffered in recent months.
Although the rise in prices was caused by external factors, the FBiH Government has already taken a number of measures to protect the most vulnerable categories. Thus, in 2022, pensions and veterans' benefits were increased, and significantly more funds were allocated for agriculture and commodity reserves with the aim of intervention on food prices. Furthermore, the Government proposed the adoption of a series of laws that provide material support to certain categories, such as caregiver parents and children who come from financially disadvantaged families. Finally, not being able to influence the prices of gas and oil, the Government of FBiH continues to subsidize the price of electricity for households, and to limit margins in order to prevent possible abuses of the current situation in order to achieve higher profits.
In addition to all this, the growth of public revenues in the first six months of 2022 also enabled the Government of FBiH to additionally intervene in the form of providing one-time financial assistance in the amount of 100 KM to categories that are particularly affected by inflation, through the Regulation on assistance to the population due to the increase in the consumer price index . That decree ensured assistance for pensioners, beneficiaries of veterans' and disability protection rights, persons with disabilities, and civilian victims of war. In addition, assistance in the form of basic food packages is granted to recipients of permanent cash and other material assistance.
Due to the impossibility of directly influencing commodity prices determined by external factors, the Government of the Federation adopts this regulation in order to at least partially replace the lost standard of living of unemployed persons, without jeopardizing its fiscal stability and regular payments from the Federation Budget.
Estimates are that this decision will cover about 270,000 unemployed persons in FBiH.
