Budget deficit to reach 20% of annual figure in January

The reason for the January figure is due to high expenditures, mainly on the annual EU contribution. In January the contribution will cost taxpayers zł.1.8 billion out of the zł.10.2 billion amount for 2005. Deputy Finance Minister Elżbieta Suchocka-Roguska who is responsible for the budget, confirmed that in February the payment to the EU budget will be a similar figure to that of January's. Last year, the contribution was divided into equal parts paid monthly and the total amount was lower as Poland became a member state only in May. The changes to the payment system were introduced after a request from the European Commission that experienced budget shortages at the end of 2004 and asked for higher payments in the beginning of 2005. Other important budget expenditures in January are the operations of the Social Insurance Administration (ZUS) and subsidies for education paid out to local governments (zł.4 billion out of zł.25.9 billion scheduled for the whole year). (Rzeczpospolita, p. B1) D.W.