The economical effect of war on Sarajevo
Written by: Awais Malik
A place heavily affected by war like the City of Sarajevo has a detrimental effect on the economy of the place. As of now, Bosnia is still recovering from the war that ranged from 1992-1995. The war devastated the infrastructure and killed 100,000 people, leaving long term instability in the former country of Yugoslavia. Even now, Bosnia’s economy is heavily reliant on foreign aid from countries like the European countries and the U.S and would be unable to sufficiently support itself. Financial inflows and especially foreign aid and remittances make up roughly 20% of the Bosnian GDP. The reasons that the Bosnian economy took such a major hit was because not only was infrastructure obliterated, costing the country tons of money, and that many working people were killed, but because once the war had started many people left the country as they seeked safety. As the leader of the company Ping, Mr. Vujicic notes that “it is hard to find qualified employees since the best engineers have left.”. It is estimated that half of Bosnia’s population of 4.4 million people fled their homes. This scenario is replicated in many countries where there are wars, as we can see with the case of refugees coming to Canada and fleeing their home countries, as well as the aftermath where people go overseas for jobs as there is a shortage is in their own war torn country. War torn countries like Bosnia also often make mistake rebuilding their economies too. While Bosnia was recovering after the war, it did not create a base for a sustainable and stable economic growth. Bosnia’s economy focused on consumerism rather than production, which was only a feasible solution for short term growth. The economic instability is highlighted within situations like what is happening with the veterans of the war in Bosnia. When the war broke out, the government promised to pay anybody in its population a pension if they fought in it. Now, there are many protests happening because the government could not keep up with this promise because of this economic instability. As these veterans cannot even get pensions, this leads to a higher maintained rate of poverty. The unemployment in Bosnia is as bad as 25% and the monthly wage averages at $450 per month. The government’s poor financial situation forces them to raise taxes to as much as 50% of gross income, further worsening the condition of those in employment as even the lowest paid workers have a chunk taken from their salaries. When wars like these occur, it is not that uncommon for innocent civilians to be prosecuted. According to Kate’s mom, after the Vietnam war, her uncle was accused of helping the opposing side so the government saw it fit to seize the family’s land and businesses, leaving them to be refugees. People accused of helping the losing opposition are often subject to these harsh treatments that can cause them loss in their financial circumstances. It is worth noting exactly how much damage a war can do. Of course, repairs costs vary based on the intensity, severity, and scale of the war. In the case of the war in Bosnia however, the CIA estimated that to fix the industry and housing in Bosnia, it would cost at least 8 billion dollars. This would divert a large amount of money and resources away from public and social services in the already damaged Bosnian economy. War has a long lasting effect even after the conflict has gone away. It exhausts resources and money immediately and for years to come and is not beneficial to the common man at all.