WARSAW: According to estimates from the Ministry of Finance, Poland’s budget deficit in 2015 did not exceed an EU limit of 3 percent of GDP, which would be the first time Poland hasn’t breached the limit since 2008.
“It would be justified to expect a general government deficit in 2015 of below 3 percent of GDP,” commented the Ministry, also estimating that the deficit last year did not exceed PLN 47 billion (EUR 10.6 billion).
Although the final outcome is unknown, with many parts of the general government sector including local authorities yet to reveal their performances in 2015, the Ministry explained that it does not believe that anything will now push the deficit over the limit.
The announcement came alongside news of better than expected GDP growth, with Poland’s economy having grown in 2015 by 0.1 percentage points more than previously forecast. It is thought that faster economic growth contributed to keeping the deficit below PLN 49.98 billion (EUR 12.3), which was the maximum allowed deficit for last year following a parliamentary amendment in December.
It had been previously expected that the deficit might fall in the regions of 3 to 3.2 percent of GDP. Poland was placed into the EU’s Excessive Deficit Procedure (EDP) in 2009, though the deficit first breached the 3 percent limit in the preceding year due to the global financial crisis. The country remained in the EDP until June 2015, with the deficit never falling below 3 percent of GDP during that time.
