The government wants – as our interlocutors repeat – to focus on the transparency of state finances. Even if this means an absolutely record deficit registered in the budget: almost PLN 300 billion.
– Let the Minister of Finance announce it officially – our interlocutors from the government camp tell us.
For comparison: the budget law for 2024 assumes that state budget revenues will amount to PLN 682 billion and expenditures will amount to PLN 866 billion – therefore, this year’s deficit will amount to PLN 184 billion. However, only the 2025 budget will be the first from start to finish prepared by the coalition of the Civic Coalition, PSL, Poland 2050 and the Left.
According to our information, at the beginning of the consultations in Parkowa, Prime Minister Tusk stated that he had never before organized meetings in this format: between ministers and leaders of the formations forming the coalition.
Tusk has been prime minister for about eight years in total, so this is truly an extraordinary situation. The head of government added that it would be good for ministers and leaders of the coalition parties to sit down at the table to discuss the most important points of the budget and what the size of the deficit should be.
The amount of almost PLN 300 billion is impressive, but the leaders of the ruling camp, led by the Prime Minister, want to show how devastated the state finances they inherited from the Rule of Law and Justice were and how much the previous government hid the debts.
The aim is to include in the state budget the real debts that were transferred out of the budget by the previous government. Now the debt must be returned to the budget. In the same way – we hear – the government wants to play open cards with the European Commission, which has already initiated the excessive deficit procedure against Poland (and six other EU Member States – it is initiated when the deficit exceeds 3% of GDP; in the last year of the PiS rule it was 5.1%).
In addition, the budget expenditures that the current ruling coalition has already introduced are considerable: increases for teachers (approximately 30 percent) and increases for public sector employees (20 percent), which were included in the Civic Coalition’s “100 details”. – Our pro-social spending is at record levels, but few people realize this. We have implemented grandma’s increases for teachers and the budget. And these are just some of the things, says a government official. The government plans further increases for teachers next year.
The Left has promoted a widow’s pension and Deputy Prime Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz intends to further increase military spending to approximately 4.6-4.7 GDP, which would be a record level among NATO countries.
The entire Third Way – Poland 2050 and the PSL – is pushing for a reduction in health insurance premiums for entrepreneurs – even if it is spread over the years. However, the Civic Platform wants to keep state finances under control. The left, for its part, wants to increase funeral allowances.
There is still no agreement on health insurance premiums – and this is potentially the most expensive issue. There is controversy over this because the issue is politically and prestige-wise very important for the Third Way. A few months ago, Deputy Prime Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz and Speaker of the Sejm Szymon Hołownia publicly said that changing the health insurance premium for entrepreneurs means being in the ruling coalition or not. Either the coalition will reduce it, or the PSL and Polska 2050 will leave the government. For now, negotiations are ongoing.
The atmosphere at the meetings in Parkowa is friendly. There are no quarrels, our interlocutors from the ruling camp emphasize. However, there is also a protocol of disagreements.
One of the aims of the meetings is – as Kamil Dziubka wrote in Onet – to ensure that none of the parties in the ruling coalition surprises its own government with its proposals in the presidential campaign.
The elections for the head of state will be held in May 2025. The favorite to run on behalf of the Civic Coalition is Warsaw Mayor Rafał Trzaskowski. Marshal Szymon Hołownia, who has not announced his candidacy publicly, is also scheduled to run. The left’s favorite to start the fight for the Presidential Palace is Minister Agnieszka Dziemianowicz-Bąk. The Confederation will officially field Sławomir Mentzen.
