President Andrzej Duda has signed into law the country’s revised budget for this year, which expects the economy to grow 4.9 percent, with inflation targeted at 4.3 percent, his aides said on Tuesday.
The president’s signature came after Polish lawmakers definitively approved the financial plan in a final vote earlier this month.
The budget deficit is expected to be no more than PLN 40.5 billion (EUR 8.8 bn, USD 10.3 bn), less than half of the initial target of PLN 82.3 billion, under the plan greenlighted by the head of state.
Government revenue is expected to total PLN 483 billion in 2021, with spending set at PLN 523.5 billion, state news agency PAP reported.
Poland’s Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said last month that his government would increase spending on various policy areas, including health and roads, amid higher-than-expected budget revenues this year.
Morawiecki told reporters at the time that the Cabinet had decided to amend the 2021 budget because some PLN 80 billion (EUR 17.3 billion) more than expected had flowed into public coffers.
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki. Photo: PAP/Wojciech Olkuśnik
The extra revenue is mainly due to “anti-crisis measures, good performance of businesses and sound budgetary policy,” Morawiecki told a news conference.
He announced that the government would pour an additional PLN 1 billion into the healthcare system to be be spent on medical procedures, staff salaries and medical universities.
Meanwhile, public sector workers are set to receive higher bonuses, he added, while an extra PLN 10 billion will be spent on roads and railway lines, Morawiecki told reporters.
The Cabinet has also set aside PLN 4 billion for local governments and earmarked fresh funds for new disability policy measures and projects in water supply and sewerage management as well as farming, according to Morawiecki.
Poland’s government last month approved the country's budget for 2022, which expects the economy to grow 4.6 percent, with inflation targeted at 3.3 percent.
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Source: PAP, TVP Info