2019-09-24 18:39 update: 2019-09-25, 11:56
Photo: PAP/Wojciech Olkuśnik
Following the 2020 draft budget's adoption by the government on Tuesday, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said it was a pro-development and balanced financial plan, while the finance minister observed it was the biggest budget since 1989.
Morawiecki told a press conference that "it is a very good budget," a budget that supports economic growth and to a large degree continues the implementation of a number of programmes initiated by the Law and Justice (PiS) government.
The 2020 draft budget foresees income at PLN 429.5 billion (EUR 98.07 billion) and expenditures at PLN 429.5 billion (EUR 98.07 billion), resulting in a balanced budget.
However, the government press service CIR observed that according to the EU methodology, the public deficit will reach 0.3 percent of Poland's GDP in 2020.
Both the budget revenue and spending will be the highest since 1989, observed Finance Minister Jerzy Kwiecinski, who attended the press conference with the prime minister.
In forecasting incomes and expenditures, the Ministry of Finance projected GDP growth at 3.7 percent in real terms, and average growth in prices of goods and services at 2.5 percent. Average wage and pension is to grow 6.3 percent, with private consumption increasing by 6.4 percent in nominal terms. Poland's public debt is seen to decline to 43.5 percent of the GDP at the end of 2020.
The government made minor tweaks to the draft budget following consultation in the Council for Social Dialogue, Morawiecki said. The council is a three-partite consultative body comprising the government, employers and employees.
The government provisionally approved the draft budget in late August.
Commenting on the potential impact of a handful of tax incentives recently offered to small and medium-sized businesses by PiS, Kwiecinski admitted that in the short term they will indeed translate into smaller budget income, but over the long term they will contribute to the country's development and thus tax revenue.
The minister also said the budget was conservative in assuming that Poland's economy will grow by just 3.7 percent next year, whereas this year's growth will be "significantly above 4 percent."
Under Poland's constitution, the government is obliged to send the draft budget to parliament by the end of September. The parliament has four months to present the passed budget to the president for final approval. If it fails to do so, the president has the right to dissolve parliament. (PAP)
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