On August 28, the government adopted the draft budget act for 2025. On the same day, Deputy Minister of National Defense Stanisław Wziątek confirmed that next year the state intends to spend a record amount of almost PLN 186 billion on defense, which would constitute approximately 4.7 percent of GDP. This expenditure was included in the draft budget and the extra-budgetary Armed Forces Support Fund (FWSZ). Specialist portal Defence24 However, he already pointed out that it might not be possible to cover all expenses from this last pool.
This pool is subject to much greater risk in terms of actual spending than standard budget spending. For example, in 2023, the MON budget of PLN 97 billion was implemented in almost 100%, but a significant part of the projects planned for implementation with the FWSZ were not implemented.
– noted Jakub Palowski, deputy editor-in-chief of the portal.
Government plans to spend billions on defense, analyst has one doubt
According to reports Polish Press Agency within the budget, PLN 124.3 billion is planned for defense, of which PLN 14 billion is to go to the FWSZ. The total expenditure of the latter is to reach PLN 76.3 billion. They are financed primarily from debt instruments – credits borrowed by the state and issued bonds.
Analyst Tomasz Dmitruk from Dziennik Zbrojny pointed out in an interview with PAP that the funds from the budget are therefore “more certain” than those from the FWSZ. – In my opinion, this budget is anyway arranged with the Ministry of Finance in mind – only 3.1% of GDP is directly allocated for defense in the budget – these are de facto expenses only 5% higher than planned in the budget for the current year – noted the analyst.
He also added that if there are “objective” difficulties with loans or bonds, the funds from the FWSZ may be realized at a lower level than expected. Dmitruk emphasized that the Fund is a convenient solution that provides flexibility Ministry of Finance. He noted, however, that in previous years, the realization of FWSZ expenditure “never even approached 100 percent of the assumptions.”
What defense spending will be in the budget? It can be divided into four categories
In an interview with PAP, Tomasz Dmitruk also discussed in detail the budget part of defense spending. It can be divided into four main categories: capital expenditure, current expenditure, benefits, and grants and subsidies. The first of these is planned to allocate PLN 51.5 billion. This amount includes the payment to the FWSZ and expenditure related to investments carried out by the army – for example, the purchase of military equipment and the construction of infrastructure.
The current expenditure of the army is to amount to nearly PLN 48.2 billion. This category includes the daily needs of the army, including salaries for soldiers and purchases of ammunition, equipment, fuel, food and spare parts. This amount is also to cover the costs of organizing training and exercises.
The third category covers benefits for thing individuals and includes PLN 17.9 billion. These expenses include military pensions and retirement benefits, for which PLN 11.6 billion has been earmarked. The rest – around PLN 6.2 billion – is to be allocated to the remuneration of soldiers WOT.
The fourth and last category includes grants and subsidies, mainly for military universities. PLN 5.9 billion has been earmarked for these purposes. – These are all kinds of grants, primarily for military higher education, for the Military Property Agency, but also support for enterprises – this is assistance so that entrepreneurs can maintain their production capacity during the war for the needs of the army – explained Dmitruk.