2002 budget plan for Social Insurance Company leaves legislators worried

The Social Policy Commission (KPS) published a draft of the 2002 budget plan for the Social Insurance Company (ZUS) yesterday. Under the draft, presented by ZUS vice-president Ireneusz Fafara, around zl. 100 billion in revenue is expected to enter the Social Insurance Fund (FUS) from contributions by the insured and subsidies from the state budget. The draft assumes slightly higher expenses than last year, which will be financed by a short-term bank loan. The individual items in the budget plan are conservative, suggesting that potential hardships have been taken into account by both the government and ZUS. Upon seeing the draft, Sejm deputies became concerned, seeing no solution to ZUS' financial difficulties. KPS head Anna Bankowska of the Democratic Left Alliance (SLD) expressed her concern that "Not a single zloty was allocated to repayment of debts." Currently the FUS owes the state budget almost zl. 9 billion, and another zl. 3 billion to banks, while the overdue debt to pension funds amounts to zl. 4 billion. (Rzeczpospolita, p. A4) M.T.