Bosnia registered the record growth of citizens' saving and company deposit, which showed there was not enough of interest for domestic investments, said Bosnian Finance Minister Vjekoslav Bevanda on Thursday at the Jahorina Economic Forum.

Speaking at a panel discussion titled “Fiscal Policy – Is the Maastricht (criteria) a right measure for the South-East Europe countries”, the minister said Bosnia met all conditions set by the Maastricht criteria i.e. the euro convergence criteria, partly because it managed to blend in and partly owing to the lack of some of the criteria.

The euro convergence criteria are the criteria that the European Union member states are required to meet to enter the third stage of the Economic and Monetary Union and adopt Euro as their currency.

President of the Bosnia's Fiscal Council Milenko Krajisnik deemed that the Maastricht criteria are not a right measure for every member state, noting that each country should have its own rule for a certain era and adjust it to various circumstances.

He expressed concern over the information that investments are at the level of some 17 percent of GDP, adding that there will be no serious development that would positively affect employment and standard in general without 23-25 percent of GDP.

According to Minister Bevanda, Bosnia's public debt has been growing over the past years but, according to the estimates, it is expected to decrease. “We reduced indebtedness by BAM 750 million (approximately EUR 375 million),” Bevanda added.

(EUR 1 = BAM 1.95)