Bauc vows to push ahead with austerity budget after winning experts' backing

Finance Minister Jaroslaw Bauc has vowed to push through his austere 2002 budget proposal ahead of a general election, after a panel of economic experts backed his plans. "We have to make very difficult, but necessary decisions," Bauc told a news briefing yesterday. He added that he would present a modified, but still tight, budget outline later this week to the Cabinet Economic Committee (KERM). A special economists' panel, set up by the government to assess the finance ministry's 2002 budget plans, said earlier yesterday that it generally supported Bauc's austerity scheme as an effective remedy for the country's looming financial woes. The report by the team of four prominent economists increased the chances for Bauc's plan to be approved by the government. The panel's chief, Witold Orlowski, warned that Poland could face a public finances crisis in 2003 unless mounting social security spending is curbed. Bauc said the expert panel endorsed his forecast that next year's budget shortfall could amount to zl.88 billion, or 11% of GDP, without large cutbacks. Some ministers had questioned Bauc's prediction, sparking rumors that the finance minister might resign. (Reuters)