Domestic demand and investment needed for recovery says Hausner

The new Economy and Labor Minister, Jerzy Hausner, said yesterday that Poland needed both investment and domestic demand to drive economic recovery ahead of EU accession. But, at his first news conference since receiving sweeping powers over business to add to his existing employment and welfare portfolios, Hausner gave few details beyond saying that the country could not afford to spend its way out of economic trouble. He said his ministry's priority was to ensure that Poland would be ready to absorb billions of euros a year in EU aid for infrastructure and regional development, when it joins the union. "Our main goal... is sustainable growth, which should amount to 5% in 2004," Hausner said, adding that gross domestic product was estimated to have held roughly steady last year from 1.0% in 2001. "But there is no way we can boost growth by increasing our budget deficit," he said. (Reuters) A.Z.