Are Poland’s public finances as bad as some politicians and economists claim? “We are far from the wall. I don’t expect disaster declared in the Conversation of Piasecki on TVN24 the prof. Marcin Piątkowski, chief economist of the World Bank in Washington.

The crisis is global. The problem is not only in Poland

Teacher. Marcin Piątkowski also made it clear that the situation in which the Polish economy finds itself is not isolated. 0 There is a problem, but it is not a problem for Poland. – Poland is part of a global game. We are all going through the same shock – inflationary the tsunami that hit everyone. Everyone has a problem, the Germans, the French and the Americans. It is hardly surprising that the situation is more serious when we are faced with one of the greatest crises of the greatest years – said the World Bank’s chief economist.

The expert also listed the factors that have contributed to the difficult situation in which Polish public finances currently find themselves. – Inflation, which is the consequence of the way we have managed the pandemic relatively well, is war and the rise in gas and electricity prices before it even begins, there is also climate changes. So many things have happened – He said.

“We will not talk about disaster”

Teacher. Marcin Piątkowski also gave an optimistic assessment of the outlook for the Polish economy. According to him, in a year we will talk about the fact that we came out of the crisis unscathed. We will survive this crisis. We are a small shell in a huge stormy ocean. This winter will be difficult, but we are slowly coming out of this crisis. I think that in a year we will not be talking about the disaster of the Polish economy, but about the fact that we once again managed to come out of the crisis unscathed – rated

The economist also assessed the activities National Bank of Poland in terms of monetary policy, as well as the fiscal policy of the state.

“You always have to worry about public finances, but I think we are far from a disaster. Fiscal policy certainly does not help. We have large deficits and there is room for more discipline. Monetary policy has already done a lot – said Marcin Piatkowski.

– We were a bit late with the start of the interest rate hike. I would raise them a bit more too. I think it was possible to get to 7% at the last meeting. and send a very strong signal to the Poles that the NBP will resolutely fight inflation – evaluated the activities of the MPC.

According to the economist, the time for interest rate hikes is over. Further increases would cool the Polish economy too much. – Today, there is very little room to raise interest rates. This place may not even exist. We need to look at what will happen in the global economy. The Polish economy is already slowing down very rapidly. We have all the signals showing that the problem of excessive demand is being solved very quickly – says Marcin Piatkowski.

Social policy is not generous

The economist also drew attention to a very interesting fact that is generally ignored in the public debate in Poland. He recalled that social policy spending in the country is not exceptionally generous compared to the rest of Europe.

“Inflation shields made sense. In an ideal world, however, they should only go to the poorest. It failed in Poland, but neither did the more developed Germany. Sometimes the government runs out of time and has to make decisions that are not optimal – He said.

– Spending on social policy in Poland is not generous at all. We are close to the European average. It is debatable whether spending on later pensions makes sense, in my view it is largely unjustified. You can check them out – Piatkowski rated.

The World Bank’s chief economist was also tempted to assess whether KPO fund are needed for Poland. – Yes. Losing this money would be a strategic mistake for Poland. I think one of the biggest processing mistakes of the last 33 years. I hope it doesn’t come to that – added.

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