2019-09-20 13:27 update: 2019-09-28, 11:42
President Andrzej Duda and minister Minister of Investment and Development Jerzy Kwieciński. Photo PAP/Rafał Guz
The incumbent Investment and Development Minister Jerzy Kwiecinski was appointed as finance minister by president Andrzej Duda at the Presidential Palace in Warsaw on Friday and will now simultaneously hold both posts.
Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki has been performing the finance minister's duties since September 19, when Finance Minister Marian Banas was recalled from the post due to his appointment as the head of the Supreme Audit Office, an inspection body for government entities.
Kwiecinski has been the minister of investment and development since January 9, 2018. Earlier, from November 20, 2015, he had been the secretary of state at the Ministry of Development.
In the years 2005–2008, he was the deputy minister of regional development, responsible for coordinating the country's development and cohesion policy, and for negotiations with the European Commission. He also advised on World Bank reports.
In 2015, he became a member of the National Development Council.
Talking about his priorities, the new finance minister said he would seek to ensure the stability of public finances and prepare plans for the coming years, as well as proceed with adopting the 2020 budget.
Congratulating the newly appointed finance minister, Duda said that he wanted to make finance, investment and development work the best possible way in Poland.
"So you have a great responsibility in your hands, (...) very experienced hands, (...) which were able to skillfully manage finances," the president said, adding he primarily meant European funds, which Kwiecinski has dealt with for years.
PM Morawiecki said that it was hard to imagine a better moment for the finance minister to take office than now, when the government is making every effort to lower taxes.
Morawiecki added that he is convinced that the new finance minister will cope well with his new duties. He also noted Kwiecinski's experience in the fields of European fund management, bridge construction, entrepreneurship and finance. (PAP)
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