EBRD report cites Poland's corruption, bureaucracy, and systemic failures

In its seventh annual Transition Report, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) advises Poland to improve its foreign investment climate, speed up agricultural reform, and increase economic competitiveness. According to EBRD, corruption, the complicated licensing system, and bureaucratic procedures account for the reluctance of some foreign investors to enter the Polish market. EBRD attributes the rising deficits in social expenditures to systemic failures, abuse of the sick-leave program, and technical inefficiency.In addition EBRD recommends that Poland lower its inflation and current account deficit. Polish representative to EBRD Jan Krzysztof Bielecki emphasizes that the report is in fact rather optimistic. "We started from a very difficult position. At the beginning of the transformation phase we had much greater difficulties than the Czech Republic or Hungary. And now the report shows that Poland has advanced very quickly," said Bielecki. (Prawo i Gospodarka, pp.1,.6; Rzeczpospolita, p.B1)