Morawiecki: Poland’s economic slowdown ‘temporary’

Referring to the worse-than-expected GDP results, Morawiecki said, “We are dealing with a cyclical slowdown in economic growth across the entire EU as well as in the majority of economies around the world.”

He highlighted data which shows that many EU countries have reported growth rates lower than Poland’s, citing Brexit as one possible cause of a general economic slowdown.

Morawiecki, who is also a deputy prime minister, added, “It is worth remembering that even with the recent slowdown in Poland’s GDP growth we remain one of the fastest expanding economies in the EU.”

Eurostat estimates the overall year-on-year GDP growth of all EU countries at 1.8 percent in the third quarter of 2016.

Concerns have been raised about the ability of the Polish economy to grow by 3.6 percent next year, which is the projection used as the basis of the 2017 budget.

Addressing these worries, Morawiecki argued that the slowdown is “temporary” and that growth will accelerate due to the government’s planned investments and further EU funding.

If the 3.6 percent growth projection is realized then the maximum deficit next year will be just over PLN 59 billion (EUR 13.2 billion), which would narrowly meet the EU’s deficit target. Weaker growth in 2017 could cause Poland to miss this target. (sl/pk)

Source: PAP