Poland is committed to keeping its public finance sector deficit below 3% of GDP, but will not follow recommendations of tightening at the annual pace of 0.5% of GDP, as recommended by the European Commission, as that could have negative consequences, Finance Minister Pawel Szalamacha said during the Euopean Economic Congress in Katowice.
“It is not something we will be pursuing as it can trigger negative phenomena,” Szalamacha said. “We could ‘beef up’ some parameters in the excel and then what? Next year there could be a slowdown, difficulties in financing some goals and with domestic co-financing of EU funds.”
On Wednesday, the European Commission recommended that Poland continue fiscal tightening in years 2016-2017 at the pace of 0.5% of GDP annually, improve tax collection, balance the pension system and remove barriers for investments, the Commission said in a periodic assessment of member states.
