2003 Budget draft cleared by parliament

The Sejm has cleared the government's budget draft for next year, paving the way for possible approval of the fiscal plan before the end of the year. The bill, based on an upbeat assumption that sluggish economic growth will accelerate to 3.5% next year, sets the budget deficit at zl. 38.7 billion or slightly below 5% of GDP, with revenues of zl. 154.9 billion and expenses of zl. 193.6 billion. During a five-hour debate late on Saturday, parliamentarians raised mandatory health insurance payments to 8% from the present 7.75%, which is hoped to raise an additional zl. 1 billion for the National Health Fund. Parliament also dropped zl. 100 million worth of subsidies for the development of the Warsaw subway, which was strongly opposed by Law and Justice (PiS) leader and the city mayor's twin brother, Jaroslaw Kaczynski. The bill was sent for final review to the Senate, where no major hurdles are expected. Following Senate approval the budget will be sent to the President, who is obliged to sign the bill into law. Finance Minister Kolodko's draft budget for 2003 targets borrowing at zl. 38.7 billion, or 4.9% of GDP, following 5.4% in 2002. (Reuters; Rzeczpospolita, p. B1) A.K