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Polish MPs adopt balanced budget for 2020

14.02.2020 15:50
The Polish parliament on Friday voted through a balanced budget that expects the economy to grow 3.7 percent this year, with inflation targeted at 2.5 percent.
The Polish parliament in session on Friday
The Polish parliament in session on Friday Photo: PAP/Rafał Guz

Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said last year that the 2020 budget would be the country’s first without a deficit since the fall of communism and the start of market reforms three decades ago.

Government supporters hailed the budget as a “historic” document.

Revenue and spending this year have both been set at PLN 435.3 billion (EUR 102.5 billion, USD 111.2 billion).

In total, 231 deputies voted to accept the budget, while 217 were against and one abstained.

The spending plans now go to the upper house, the Senate, for debate.

The Polish economy grew 3.1 percent in the final quarter of 2019, according to a flash estimate by the country’s Central Statistical Office released earlier on Friday.

That reading marked a slowdown from 3.9 percent growth in the third quarter.

Finance Minister Tadeusz Kościński said on Friday that the Polish economy had grown 4 percent over the whole of last year.

“This is still one of the best results among EU countries," he added.

(pk)

Source: PAP