Public spending has increased rapidly in Poland in the last ten years. There is only one EU country where it has been faster - Luxembourg.
According to legendary though controversial economist Leszek Balcerowicz, this means Poland's growth is slower than it otherwise might have been.
Leszek Balcerowicz, former deputy prime minister, finance minister and the "architect" of Poland's transformation currently chairs the supervisory board of the Civil Development Forum (FOR) foundation, which he founded.
Balcerowicz says that Poland's solid economic results are not the result of good government policy and management, but fortunate "external" factors such as the large-scale immigration of Ukrainian people strengthening and rejuvenating the workforce:
"Poland's economy developed quite quickly in recent years, despite bad economic policy... as there were at work compensating factors, such as the inflow of a million employees from the Ukraine. The impact of these factors is to dampen the effects of poor economic policy, which the current government continues but which will anyway inevitably lead to a slow-down in growth. At that time, the state of public finances will become dramatic," warned Balcerowicz.
Sources: FOR, bank.pl
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