Kolodko to present Capital gains proposal along with reform package

Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Grzegorz Kolodko stated yesterday that the tax on stock capital gains is likely to be introduced in 2004. Two days earlier, Prime Minister Leszek Miller had stated that he knew nothing about such plans while Kolodko claimed it would probably not be introduced next year. However, according to an interview with the minister yesterday the decision, "will be presented with the package of reforms aimed at restructuring public finances, and preliminary guidelines for the 2004 budget," which usually takes place in the middle of the year. According to sources, the idea of introducing the tax is not widely accepted at the Finance Ministry and is supported chiefly by Kolodko himself. (Rzeczpospolita, pp. A1, B1) M.M.