Poland is expected to see a drop in inflation to a single-digit level in the last half of 2023, according to the head of the Polish Development Fund (PFR). This forecast comes as a sign of hope for the country’s economic prospects.
According to Poland’s Central Statistical Office (GUS), consumer prices in March rose 16.2 per cent year on year, and 1.1 per cent.
New data released by the Central Statistical Office of Poland (GUS) shows that consumer prices rose 16.2 per cent year on year in March, and 1.1 per cent month on month. This is a decrease from the 18.4 per cent year-on-year inflation rate recorded in February. month on month. February inflation stood at 18.4 per cent year on year.
Radio Zet recently spoke with Paweł Borys, who predicted that inflation will be near 8% at the end of 2023. He went on to say that it should fall to about 5% the following year.
An expert on economic matters has stated that inflation rates in Poland are higher than those in Western European countries due to the fact that energy costs have a larger influence on generating national revenue. He went on to explain that this is common in Central and Eastern European countries as well.
“We are also a bit poorer, so food prices weigh more on our budgets than in the richer countries of the Western EU,” Borys argued.
Poland’s unemployment rate has drastically decreased to 5.4 per cent in March 2023, according to the Polish Press Agency (PAP). This is in stark contrast to countries like Italy and Spain, where the unemployment rate stands around 8-10 per cent. This low rate of unemployment in Poland has not resulted in wage pressure that leads to an increase in the prices of products and services.
Borys warned that the current issue is not the country’s public debt, but the growing budget deficit, which ballooned to 3.5 per cent of the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the last year.
The government’s introduction of social programmes and increased defence spending has resulted in a rise in expenditure of approximately PLN 70 billion-80 billion (EUR 15.2 billion-17.4 billion), according to a statement from the government.