Marlena Maląg – Minister of Family and Social Policy, Vice-President of the Social Dialogue Council took part in the plenary session of the Council concerning the condition of the Polish economy.

In the meeting, which took place on March 16, 2023, the government side was also represented by: Waldemar Buda – Minister of Development and Technology, Piotr Patkowski – Undersecretary of State in the Ministry of Finance, Piotr Pyzik – Undersecretary of State in the Ministry of State Assets, Piotr Dziadzio – Undersecretary of State in the Ministry Climate and Environment, Piotr Bromber – Undersecretary of State in the Ministry of Health and representatives of the Chancellery of the President of the Republic of Poland.

In her statement, the Minister of Family and Social Policy, Marlena Maląg, informed that despite the difficult situation in which the economy is currently facing, caused by the war in Ukraine and earlier by the COVID-19 pandemic, the situation on the labor market is still stable. The minister informed that according to According to data from the Central Statistical Office, the registered unemployment rate in February 2023 amounted to 5.5% and is lower by 0.4 pp compared to January 2022. This is historically low unemployment, which places Poland in second place in the European Union. In annual terms, i.e. January 2023 to January 2022, the highest annual increase in average employment occurred in the section „Information and communication and in „Professional, scientific and technical activities”. In addition, the Minister informed about the increase in the average salary in the enterprise sector. She indicated that the highest average gross salary in the enterprise sector was recorded in the section „Information and communication”, „Professional, scientific and technical activities”. Minister M. Maląg also mentioned about 115,000 job vacancies in Q4 2022.

Waldemar Buda – Minister of Development and Technology announced that the economy in 2022 was under the influence of strong external factors, primarily related to Russia’s aggression against Ukraine. One of the aspects that had a very strong impact on the situation was the interruption of supply chains. Thanks to the great determination of Polish entrepreneurs and government support, it was possible to maintain the potential of the economy in these difficult conditions. Summing up, despite the ongoing war in Ukraine, 2022 was a positive year from the point of view of GDP growth (Q1 was 8.6% GDP growth, then a decreasing trend, the end of Q4 at 2% GDP growth). He mentioned that many solutions were introduced to support both households and businesses. Among the activities, he anti-inflation shields, subsidies for coal and fuel,

Piotr Patkowski, Undersecretary of State in the Ministry of Finance, referred to macroeconomic indicators. He indicated that in the second quarter of 2023 there may be a slight recovery of the economy and it is forecast that in 2023 GDP will increase by about 1%. He also informed that the Financial Stability Committee (KSF), which includes: the Ministry of Finance, the National Bank of Poland, the Polish Financial Supervision Authority and the Bank Guarantee Fund, does not see any weaknesses in the financial sector. He stressed that the situation in the sector is monitored on an ongoing basis by the FSC.

Deputy Minister Piotr Dziadzio representing the Ministry of Climate and Environment informed that all government activities that were carried out in 2022, including those of the Minister of Climate and Environment, were aimed at maintaining the resilience and competitiveness of the Polish economy. He noted that these activities were addressed to a very wide audience on many levels. They concerned mainly the areas of electricity and natural gas.

Representative of state assets, Deputy Minister Piotr Pyzik informed that from the point of view of the Polish economy, the role of state-owned companies in ensuring energy security through involvement in the implementation of such projects as e.g. construction of the Baltic Pipe or investments in nuclear energy. He emphasized that an important element influencing the state of the economy was, among others, the issue of implementing a coal distribution project by municipalities. He noted that the Ministry of State Assets has created and implemented a coal distribution system based on state-owned companies and cooperation with municipalities, which allowed households to be supplied with coal.

The meeting was followed by a discussion with the social partners. Returned, among others attention to the need to update Poland’s energy policy. Social partners are concerned about the issue of the so-called methane regulation, which provides for the reduction of methane emissions in three sectors: oil, gas and coal. In addition, reference was made to the high level of inflation and its development in the future, the decline in investments, expenditure on research and development and the level of wages in the sphere of public finance.

Source:https://www.gov.pl/web/dialog/powiedzenie-plenarn-rady-dialogu-spoleczny21