Polish president signs revised budget into law amid virus crisis

Amid a coronavirus epidemic that has dented the economy, Polish President Andrzej Duda has signed into law an amended budget for this year, with the deficit expected to reach PLN 109.3 billion (EUR 23.6bn, USD 27.6bn).

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Under the budget, the government expects Polish GDP to shrink 4.6 percent this year.

The government also expects unemployment to rise to 8 percent at the end of the year, up from 5.2 percent at the end of 2019.

Amid the coronavirus crisis, the Polish economy contracted 8.2 percent in the second quarter of this year, after expanding by 2 percent in the first quarter, according to the Central Statistical Office.

The government last year approved plans for an ambitious balanced 2020 budget. Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki at the time said it would be the country’s first without a deficit since the fall of communism and the start of market reforms three decades ago.

That budget expected the economy to grow 3.7 percent in 2020.

Poland reported a record rise in coronavirus infections for the fourth consecutive day on Friday, confirming 21,629 new cases, the most since the pandemic hit the country in early March.

(pk)

Source: PAP/IAR