Polish economy booming, geared toward ‘inclusive growth': PM
PR dla Zagranicy
Grzegorz Siwicki
01.10.2018 14:25
The Polish economy is booming and the country’s ruling conservatives are pursuing a model of "inclusive growth" to create equitable opportunities for citizens, the country’s prime minister has said in the Wall Street Journal.
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki. Photo: W. Kusiński/PR
“Our market economy is booming, allowing us to take care of the least fortunate,” Mateusz Morawiecki said in an opinion piece published by the leading US financial newspaper.
“Poland recently became the first country in nearly a decade to graduate from emerging-market status and enter the ranks of the world’s developed economies,” Morawiecki said in his opinion piece entitled "Meet the Polish Tiger" and posted on the wsj.com website.
Poland last Monday had its capital market upgraded from emerging to developed market status by leading index provider FTSE Russell.
The Polish capital market became the first in Central and Eastern Europe to join the ranks of developed markets such as the United States, Japan and Germany.
Morawiecki said “the distinction is the fruit of a long effort to build a flourishing market economy on the ruins of the communist system that the Solidarity movement helped topple in 1989.”
But while the economy as a whole prospered some people found themselves left behind as success “too often” depended on “connections, not hard work,” Morawiecki argued.
He also said that his conservative government led by the Law and Justice (PiS) party has “cracked down on rampant tax fraud and evasion,” increasing revenue from value-added tax by 26 percent in just two years “with the help of stepped-up enforcement and innovative digital tools.”
Morawiecki said Poland’s ruling conservatives have invested in healthcare, education and public works projects.
“We have shown that helping the least fortunate isn’t incompatible with growth,” he said, adding that Poland’s economy has expanded by more than 10 percent over the past two-and-a-half years, “the most among the top 10 EU economies.”
Ratings agency Moody's last month revised upward its forecast for Polish GDP growth this year to 5 percent, and it also raised its projection for Poland's economic growth next year to 4.2 percent.
The Polish economy grew 5.1 percent in the second quarter of this year, the country’s Central Statistical Office (GUS) said in late August.
(gs/pk)
Source: PAP, wsj.com