Poland to see 3.9% GDP growth in 2019-2020: gov’t

This year Poland’s gross domestic product (GDP) is expected to expand by 3.6 percent, followed by 3.8 percent growth in 2018, under the government’s multiannual financial plan to 2020.

In other key targets for the 2017-2020 period, the unemployment rate as measured by the Labour Force Survey (LFS)—which counts people without work who are actively looking for jobs—is seen falling to 5.7 percent in 2017 from 6.2 percent in 2016. In 2018, the LFS unemployment rate is expected to fall further to 5 percent, and subsequently to a record low of 4 percent in 2020.

Wages are expected to grow 4.8 percent in 2017, followed by 4.7 percent growth in 2018, 5.1 percent in 2019, and 5.3 percent in 2020, under the plan, which the government approved on Tuesday.

Personal consumption is seen growing by 4 percent in 2017, up from 3.8 percent in 2016, with 3.5 percent average growth projected for the following years.

Average annual inflation in Poland is seen at 1.8 percent in 2017, followed by 2.3 percent in both 2018 and 2019, and 2.5 percent in 2020, after a period of deflation in 2015 and 2016.

Poland’s general government deficit is expected to stand at 2.9 percent of GDP in 2017, followed by a decline to 2.5 percent of GDP in 2018, 2 percent of GDP in 2019, and 1.2 percent of GDP in 2020.

(str/pk)

Source: PAP, Rzeczpospolita