Cabinet proposals to up budget gap by zl.8.6 billion get SLD go-ahead

The Democratic Left Alliance (SLD) will not delay the parliamentary debate over the minority government's revised 2001 budget, which includes an increase in the deficit target. Nevertheless, the opposition has demanded that before it can fully support the bill, the government must clearly present its plans for the spending cuts necessary to cover the shortfall in revenue, predicted to reach zl. 17 million. The SLD has demanded that the government disclose which expenditures will remain unchanged and which will be lowered or postponed until next year (expenditure on investments or pension fund payments). According to Leszek Miller, the leader of the SLD, several parliamentary acts in the pipeline requiring billions of zlotys in expenditure next year, should be blocked. He cited one such act as the proposal for family relief, warning that "the government's plan to lower spending gradually, without the approval of parliament, signals it wants to avoid a public debate over the budget". (Gazeta Wyborcza p. 18, Reuters) P.W.