Marlena Maląg – Minister of Family and Social Policy, Vice-President of the Social Dialogue Council took part in the plenary session of the Council, which was devoted to the discussion on the report on the implementation of the state budget for the period from 1 January to 31 December 2022.

The meeting took place on June 15, 2023 at the Dialog Center for Social Partnership. The meeting, chaired by Łukasz Bernatowicz (ZP BCC), was attended by Sebastian Skuza – Secretary of State in the Ministry of Finance, Piotr Pyzik – Undersecretary of State in the Ministry of State Assets and Piotr Bromber – Undersecretary of State in the Ministry of Health and social partners.

Deputy Minister of Finance – Sebastian Skuza informed that due to the outbreak of the armed conflict in Ukraine in 2022, the Polish and global economy were affected by a strong supply and demand shock. He pointed out that the effect of the war was also a rapid influx of refugees from Ukraine to Poland and changes in the assumptions of macroeconomic policy, both monetary and fiscal. All this had a significant impact on the implementation of the assumptions adopted in the Budget Act, while the Polish economy once again showed great resistance to the external situation, recording a GDP growth of 5.1%.

Then, he presented the most important information on the implementation of the state budget for the period from 1 January to 31 December 2022. He informed that the revenue of the state budget in 2022 amounted to PLN 504.8 billion and was higher by approx. PLN 12.9 billion (i.e. by 2.6%) compared to the amount planned in the Budget Act for 2022. Compared to 2021, they increased by nearly PLN 10 billion, i.e. by 2% in nominal terms, and decreased by 10.8% in real terms. The main source of state budget revenue in 2022 was tax revenue, which amounted to PLN 465.5 billion and accounted for 15.1% of GDP. The increases compared to 2021 were mainly due to CIT – an increase of 33.9% y/y and VAT – an increase of 6.8% y/y. Income from these sources together accounted for 59.5% of the total income of the state budget.

State budget expenditure, in the amount of approx. PLN 517.4 billion, was lower than planned in the Budget Act for 2022 by 0.9%. Compared to 2021, the state budget expenditures in 2022 were lower by PLN 3.8 billion, i.e. by 0.7% in nominal terms, while in real terms they were lower by 13.2 percentage points. The share of realized state budget expenditures in 2022 in the recorded GDP amounted to 16.8%.

He mentioned that the state budget deficit was realized in the amount of PLN 12.6 billion, its implementation was lower by 57.9% than the amount planned in the budget act.

Jacek Męcina – Chairman of the RDS Problem Team for Budget, Remuneration and Social Benefits, presented information on the course of the discussion on the implementation of the state budget for the period from January 1 to December 31, 2022. He informed that on the forum of the Team, the employees’ side and the employers’ side failed to work out a joint opinion on the submitted document.

The meeting was followed by a discussion with the social partners. The social side noted, among others, to the issue of very low salaries in the state budget sector and the deteriorating situation of the poorest households. The problem of the frozen write-off for the Company Social Benefits Fund and the impact of the war in Ukraine on the state budget were pointed out. Attention was drawn to the decline in the level of investment in Poland and the underestimated level of inflation in 2022. The issue of the minimum wage for work and the use of the covid fund were raised.

In addition, the Council adopted Resolution No. 122 of the employees and employers of the Social Dialogue Council on the draft of the National Railway Program until 2030 (with a perspective until 2032).

Source:https://www.gov.pl/web/dialog/powiedzenie-plenarn-rady-dialogu-spoleczny25

Supported by Norway through Norway Grants 2014-2021, in the frame of the Programme “Social Dialogue – Decent Work”.