Marlena Maląg – Minister of Family and Social Policy chaired the plenary session of the Social Dialogue Council, which was devoted to the draft budget act for 2022. The meeting, in the form of a videoconference, was held on September 21, 2021. The government side was represented by: Sebastian Skuza – Secretary of State in the Ministry of Finance , Artur Soboń – Secretary of State in the Ministry of State Assets, Jacek Ozdoba – Secretary of State in the Ministry of Climate and Environment.

Minister Marlena Maląg informed that she was appointed by Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki to chair the Social Dialogue Council for the current term.

Then, Deputy Minister S. Skuza presented important macroeconomic data included in the draft budget act for 2022. According to the forecasts for the development of the draft act, GDP in 2021 will increase by 4.9%, and next year its growth rate will amount to 4.6%. On the expenditure side of the state budget for 2022, funds have been secured for the continuation of existing activities, as well as for the implementation of new ones. The budget includes, among others: increasing expenditure on financing health care; funds for key social programs in the field of family support, such as the “Family 500+” program, the implementation of the “Dobry Start” benefit or the introduction of family caring capital; valorization of old-age and disability benefits; financing of the defense needs of the Republic of Poland; increasing the personal remuneration fund for employees of the state budget sphere; increasing expenditure in the area of ​​higher education and science. Deputy Minister S. Skuza informed that the draft assumed the state budget revenues in the amount of PLN 475.6 billion, the state budget expenditure limit at PLN 505.6 billion and the state budget deficit was planned at PLN 30 billion. He stressed that the finance ministry also assumed an improvement in the labor market and a drop in the unemployment rate to 6 percent. at the end. 2021 and 5.9 percent in 2022, he drew attention to the increase in state revenues, including the increase in tax revenues to PLN 440.8 billion.

Later in the meeting, Deputy Minister S. Skuza referred to the draft act on special solutions for the implementation of the Budget Act for 2022. He pointed to the most important changes proposed in the draft, including: the introduction of a financing mechanism for selected entities of higher education and science that have the greatest impact on the quality of research conducted in Poland. It was proposed to establish deductions to social funds based on the values ​​from 2019 and to establish in 2022 the remuneration of judges, prosecutors and other employees whose remuneration is reported to their remuneration, in relation to the average remuneration in the second quarter of 2020.

In the second part of the meeting, social partners presented comments on the bills in question. They indicated, inter alia, the failure to take into account the impact of the National Reconstruction Plan on GDP in the draft budget, as well as the lack of effects of the OFE reform. Doubts are raised by the forecast of inflation of 3.3%, which, in the opinion of the public, should be adjusted. The issues of the amount of the educational subsidy, which is insufficient for the proper implementation of educational tasks, and the issue of unfreezing the write-off for the Social Fund were raised. Referring to the area of ​​family policy, it was noted that along with the increase in expenditure on new pro-family initiatives, the systems that have been operating for years and aimed at the weakest and most needy families are marginalized. Moreover, the issue of the lack of a list of liabilities of Bank of National Economy was raised.

Source: http://www.dialog.gov.pl/aktualnosci/art,1276,posiedzenie-plenarne-rady-dialogu-spolecznego.html

Projekt otrzymał dofinansowanie z Norwegii poprzez Fundusze Norweskie 2014-2021, w ramach programu „Dialog społeczny – godna praca”.