There is no agreement in the ruling coalition regarding the naStart loan, i.e. a program of subsidies for loan repayments, commonly known as the “0% loan”. PSL and KO support it, Polska 2050 and the Left are against it. The draft budget for next year includes PLN 4.28 billion for housing construction, but – as Finance Minister Andrzej Domański said last week – there is an ongoing discussion at the meeting of the Economic Committee of the Council of Ministers (KERM) about how to divide these funds.
The head of the Prime Minister’s Chancellery, Jan Grabiec, asked on Wednesday whether the 0 percent loan would be approved by force, replied: “I think we will introduce the 0 percent loan, force will not be necessary.” When asked about the dispute in the coalition on this issue and Poland 2050’s opposition to this solution, Grabiec replied: “We are talking about this among ministers.” “I think we will reach an agreement, the Economic Committee of the Council of Ministers is discussing it today,” he added.
Later that day, the head of the Ministry of National Defense, leader of the People’s Party, was asked what would happen next with the naStart loan. Kosiniak-Kamysz announced that the Minister of Development and Technology Krzysztof Paszyk (PSL) had prepared a comprehensive housing program consisting of three pillars: support for cooperative, social and own housing, i.e. assistance in purchasing an apartment on credit.
“Most people who contact us say: we have no own contribution or possibility to borrow. This element should be included in the housing package. Paszyk has prepared this comprehensive program consisting of three pillars and this will be in full compliance with the coalition agreement, because I know that our coalition partners refer to the provisions of the coalition agreement, which clearly state that we want to support housing. There is PLN 1.5 billion more for housing than in the budget for next year than we inherited from our predecessors,” Kosiniak-Kamysz noted.
He added that there should be funds for the three pillars of the housing program, including support in taking out housing loans.
Paszyk himself, when asked on Wednesday morning about the loan at Start, replied that he preferred to talk about the “loan program”. “We have a loan program, but what it will be called is a secondary issue,” he said. As he said, according to preliminary estimates, the first year of operation of the loan program next year would cost just over PLN 500 million and “this is not the dominant amount of funds allocated to housing next year, amounting to almost PLN 4.5 billion.” According to him, there are plans to involve funds from the National Reconstruction Plan.
Kosiniak-Kamysz was also asked about the changes in health insurance premiums announced by the coalition. He stressed that reducing health insurance premiums is one of the priorities. He stressed that the PSL seeks not only to eliminate the health insurance premium on the sale of fixed assets, but also to reduce the premium for entrepreneurs. “Perhaps the changes in health insurance premiums should be divided into stages so that we can carry them out harmoniously and efficiently,” he added. He expressed hope that the coalition will be able to reach an agreement on this issue.
The scope of changes to health insurance premiums is another area that divides the coalition partners. Poland 2050, the PSL and the Left have their own proposals for very divergent changes. The finance and health ministries, headed by representatives of the KO, also presented their draft in March. However, the coalition partners agree that the payment of health insurance contributions by entrepreneurs when selling fixed assets should be abolished. (PAP)
kmz/sdd/
