Economy set to grow says GUS - but only slowly says Gdansk Institute

The economic situation is set to improve according to Tadeusz Toczynski, pr esident of the Central Statistical Office (GUS), who made the claim on Mond ay while presenting the country's results for the half year so far. "We can not fall any lower than we are now," he said. In his opinion, GDP growth in the second quarter will be 0.5 % higher than the first due to fact that the decrease of gross value added in industry in general, and in construction in particular, was limited in the second quarter. According to GUS, the financ ial situation of companies is improving - as evidenced by the improved Trea sury income from taxes. The number of people employed in the national econo my decreased in comparison to December last year and stood at 15.1 million at the end of June. According to Marcin Mroz, economist at Societe General, the increase in GDP in the second quarter was 0.7%. He emphasized that such minimal changes in the rate of growth do not change the situation. "The imp rovement is moving very slowly, it wants to make its way through but it can not," was the picturesque description by Bohdan Wyznikiewicz, a vice-presid ent of the Gdansk Institute for Market Economy Research. (Prawo i Gospodark a, p. 6, Rzeczpospolita, p. B2) P.W.