ABSTRACT
In the light of the apparent close relationship between economic conditions and the outbreak of conflict, economic reforms have been a central element of most peacebuilding missions since the end of the cold war. This chapter analyses one of the key economic reforms pursued by the international community in BiH: the transformation of the payment bureaux. The payment bureaux were a central part of the socialist Yugoslav payment system, run centrally by the Office of Social Bookkeeping in Belgrade, which aimed to maintain a degree of central control over a highly decentralized socialist economy characterized by social ownership and self-management. The importance of a functioning payment system for the transition to a market economy has for some time been recognized by international organizations involved in economic reform in emerging economies.
