What goes in Poland on 6th of June.
2018 budget
On today’s meeting, the government will discuss the proposals for the 2018 state budget. It will also address, among others, minimum wage proposals and minimum hourly rate as well as next year’s pension and retirement adjustments.
„On the basis of macroeconomic indicators that constitute the foundation of the 2018 budget, the government assumed that the GDP will grow by 3.8% and that inflation will be at 2.3%. Once the document is approved by the Council of Ministers, it will be presented to the Social Dialogue Council, which needs to happen before 15 June. The assumptions of the budget, proposition for average annual wage increase indicators in the public sector for 2018, and information on expected macroeconomic performance will be the basis for drafting the 2018 budget bill,” reported the Ministry of Finance to the Polish Press Agency.
Against Nord Stream 2
The government will also adopt a draft position on the Nord Stream 2 pipeline. The Chancellery of the Prime Minister stated that the government will address the gas pipeline problem at the request of Krzysztof Tchórzewski, the Minister of Energy.
Poland is one of the opponents of the controversial pipeline, which is to be constructed on the Baltic Sea bed. It is worth remembering that the European Commission wants to receive from Member States a mandate to start negotiations with Russia on Nord Stream 2. At the end of May, Vice-Prime Minister, Minister of Finance and Development, Mateusz Morawiecki stated that the potential agreement on Nord Stream 2 should be signed between governments, not companies and should be approved by the EC.
Poland at the UN
„As of January 2018, Poland will become a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council. Our country will receive tools to engage in solving global issues and create international order,” wrote Witold Waszczykowski, Poland’s Foreign Minister.
„The suffering of civilians in Syria, the unsolved Israeli-Palestinian conflict and ethnic conflicts in Africa are the today world’s guilty conscience. We are blaming the Security Council for the fact that its composition is maladjusted to the demands of the contemporary world. However, despite its honest efforts, the international community did not create any alternative. The UN remains the only international organization of universal character that unites all countries of the world. This is why the UN is changing and evolving, just like the international relations balance has changed in the last decades,” added the Foreign Ministry head.
Pekao SA purchase finalized
„The purchase of the majority of stocks of Bank Pekao SA will be finalized tomorrow,” announced Paweł Borys, head of the Polish Development Fund during the 7th European Financial Congress. The Polish logo will return to the bank. The bank, which was bought back from Italy is part of the repolonization strategy designed by Vice-Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki. Over 1.5 thousand people will take part in the Congress that started on Monday. This year’s meeting theme is: Capital, taxes and international solidarity in the 21st century.