Polish government eyes economic growth

Speaking on Tuesday at a joint conference with Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, Prime Minister Beata Szydło said GDP growth, low unemployment, and rising wages were proof that government economic programmes were working.

Szydło added that both rating companies and the European Commission had indicated that the Polish economy would this year grow more quickly than expected.

Meanwhile, Morawiecki said that indices showed Poland had the fastest quarter-on-quarter economic growth rate since the global slowdown some nine years ago.

The deputy prime minister added that: “We have one of the lowest levels of unemployment in the whole EU," with Poland's February unemployment rate at 5.4 percent compared to 8.1 percent in the EU and 9.6 percent in the Euro-zone.

Morawiecki also said that by October, after only two years of Law and Justice (PiS) party governance, wages will have risen by 4.5 to 5 percent, compared to a two percent growth under previous governments.

He added that there was increasing Polish investment in the country's special economic zones, with foreign investment in those regions falling from 85 percent to between 40 and 60 percent, and that Polish exports are growing as businesses become more competitive.

Morawiecki also pointed to expert opinions which suggested Poland was a good place for doing business.

“Goldman Sachs, one of the world's biggest banks, put Poland alongside Brazil and India as one of the most attractive countries for investment in 2017,” Morawiecki said, adding that The Economist put Poland in fifth spot “in terms of equality in the workplace”.

“This is the result of our policy,” Morawiecki said.

“Our stimulative programmes, social programmes, economic investments … are beginning to work,” he added. (vb/pk)

Source: PAP