Polish president signs state budget bill into law
Polish President Andrzej Duda has rubberstamped the 2022 budget law that envisages a 4.6 percent economic growth rate and annual average inflation at 3.3 percent, the President's Office reported on Wednesday.
According to the law, the government's revenues will reach PLN 491.9 billion (EUR 107.6 billion) while the expenditures will be at PLN 521.8 billion (EUR 114.2 billion), producing a deficit of PLN 29.9 billion (EUR 6.54 billion).
The finance minister has recently estimated a similar level of deficit as of end-2021.
The 4.6 percent GDP growth rate is strong, albeit slightly weaker than the economic growth rate in 2021, which reached 5.7 percent in a steep recovery from the lockdown-driven 2.5-percent decline of 2020.
The 3.3 percent consumer price inflation (CPI) throughout 2022 seems to be a bold assumption given that Poland's CPI has been on the rise for months and the most recent reading, in December 2021, put it at 8.6 percent.
The unemployment level will reach 5.9 percent at the end of 2022, according to the budget law, which compares to 5.4 percent in December 2021. (PAP)
