GUS reveals depth of economic slowdown in private sector companies

According to a recent report from the Central Statistical Office (GUS), businesses' financial results last year were worse than in 2000, with private companies handling the current economic slowdown much better than the public sector. Of over 15,000 companies employing more than 50 people, only 61.6% showed a net profit. Net financial results were in the red, amounting to zl.2.6 billion, compared to zl.6.2 billion in the black the year before. Private sector companies logged a profit of zl.1.8 billion, while public companies had a loss of zl.4.4 billion. "The private sector has always been more flexible, and it has been adjusting more easily to changes in the economy, and changes in demand for specific products," said Marcin Mroz, an economist with Societe Generale. "Private companies can reduce costs more easily and lower their prices when faced with stronger comp etition," according to Arkadiusz Krzesniak, chief economist at Deutsche Bank. (Gazeta Wyborcza, p. 20) P.W.