Over PLN 300 billion was transferred to funds at BGK and PFR. These are funds that are not covered by the Budget Act or the Public Finance Act, and are unconstitutional – said Sławomir Dudek, economist, president and founder of the Institute of Public Finance, in “Fakty po Faktach” on TVN24. – We will have a big cut in spending at the end of the year – he noted.
The guest of the “Fakty po Faktach” program on TVN24 was Sławomir Dudek, economist, president and founder of the Institute of Public Finance. He was asked about the state budget.
Ministry of Finance On Wednesday, it published a statement on the estimated implementation of the state budget in the period January – September 2023, which shows that the deficit at the end of last month amounted to PLN 34.7 billion. Back in July (the last data published before the elections) it was PLN 13.1 billion.
Dudek: there is no chance of implementing the already amended budget
– The truth is and these are the facts. After nine months, tax revenues look very poor – commented Piotr Kraśka’s guest.
In his opinion, “in order to implement the budget plan, tax revenues would have to increase by 50 percent in the last three months.” – There is no chance of implementing the already amended budget – he said.
The economist noted that “the state budget deficit, published by the government, is a fragment of public finances.”
– It has become fiction. He doesn’t show the real government budget at all budget hole, because hundreds of billions of zlotys have been withdrawn over the last few years. Over PLN 300 billion, looking at the end of the year, was transferred to funds at BGK and PFR. These are funds that are completely not covered by the Budget Act or the Public Finance Act and are unconstitutional. I don’t know what the situation is there, he explained.
– We don’t know what is happening in these parallel funds. There, the government can do absolutely anything because these funds are not subject to the Budget Act. The government does not have a majority to change the budget law, and on a napkin, on a notebook, it can spend billions of zlotys in the last quarter of this year – said the guest of “Fakty po Faktach”.
According to Dudek, “we will have a big cut in spending at the end of the year.” – The government should very quickly reveal to the public where it intends to cut. We don’t know for sure when there will be a government or when there will be a new minister of finance. And Morawiecki’s government will probably cut it, but they can only announce it in mid-December, the economist noted.
As he added, “the PiS government in the Multiannual State Finance Plan sent to Brussels assumed belt tightening at 2 percent of GDP, i.e. PLN 60-70 billion.” – He just didn’t tell the citizens this before the elections. Government PIS he has reached the wall, he has inflated the budget, the VAT gap is growing, there is no income and the next ones should worry – he emphasized.
Main photo source: Shutterstock