Gov't will not budge on liberalizing duty on food imports to fight inflation

Economy Minister Janusz Steinhoff says the government will not reduce duty on any food imports as suggested by Finance Minister Jaroslaw Bauc. The liberalization of duty on food, according to Bauc, would help stop inflation which has reached a two-year high in recent months. Instead, the government would introduce a new tax regime on some food and in that way control the amount of food imports. According to Steinhoff, the fight against inflation will be best addressed by the liberalization of the fuel and telecommunications markets that the government is to table in due course. The Minister however, fell short of how he wished to deregulate the markets only mentioning that Poland was committed to reducing customs duty on fuel as part of its agreements entered with the European Union (EU) obliging Poland to open its market by Jan. 1, 2001. (Rzeczpospolita, page A1, B1)