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Bosnia parliament adopts 2000 budget

SARAJEVO: The upper house of Bosnia's state parliament adopted the budget for 2000 of about 265 million marka ($134.5 million) late on Thursday, a government official said on Friday.

But Hilmo Pasic, the secretary for the parliament's upper house, declined to comment on how the budget would be divided.

Local media reported that 187.6 million marka ($95.2 million) of total budget has been allocated for servicing Bosnia's $3.4 billion foreign debt.

The remaining 77.6 million marka ($39.4 million) would be used to finance the country's common institutions, according to reports.

Bosnia's central institutions include the three-man inter-ethnic presidency, the parliament and the central government.

The two autonomous territories that comprise post-war Bosnia the Muslim-Croat federation and the Serb republic contribute to the central government's budget.

Separately on Thursday, the upper house of the federation parliament adopted the budget for 2000 of 940 million marka, despite a recommendation by the International Monetary Fund that the budget should not exceed 925 million marka.

Last month, the parliament of the Serb republic adopted its 2000 budget amounting to 621 million marka.-Reuters