Polish MPs OK government’s handling of 2017 budget

The lower house of parliament on Thursday voted 232 to 193 with four abstentions to give the government a clean bill of health over last year’s budget and to adopt its report on how the budget panned out, Poland’s PAP news agency reported.

Poland finished 2017 with a budget deficit of PLN 25.4 billion (around EUR 5.8 billion), PLN 34 billion less than originally planned, according to the government's report.

The deficit was 57.3 percent of the PLN 59.3 billion limit set for the year, the government said in its report.

Finance Minister Teresa Czerwińska told reporters early this year that the country’s 2017 budget deficit was one of the lowest in years, chiefly due to factors such as improved value-added tax collections.

Government revenue totalled PLN 350.4 billion in 2017 and was PLN 25 billion higher than planned, according to the report approved by the house.

Meanwhile, spending stood at PLN 375.8 billion, 2.3 percent less than originally planned, the report said.

(gs/pk)

Source: PAP