Ministry of Finance 'Big Plan' on Euro convergence published in October

By the end of October the Ministry of Finance will work out a new, improved convergence program designed to assure the European Commission that Poland is able to lower its budget deficit. Its present version, accepted by the government in April, assumes that by the end of 2007 the deficit would fall below 3% of GDP, which is one of the criteria that has to be met in order to enter the Euro zone. The new version of the program will state precisely what has to be done. Main convergence criteria are: inflation not higher than 1.5% more than the average in three EU countries with the lowest inflation rate; long term interest rates not higher than 2% more than in three EU countries with the lowest inflation rate; budget deficit not higher than 3%; public debt not higher than 60% GDP; and a currency stable for two years. Finance Minister Mirosław Gronicki also confirmed that the projected 2005 deficit would amount to zł.35 billion at most and the limit of budget spending would be zł.207 billion. (Parkiet, p. 7) D.W.