Morawiecki: 500+ will bring returns

The 500+ child benefit program is an investment in Poland's future and it will bring returns, said Deputy Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki on Tuesday, following media reports that he criticized the welfare program at a meeting with PiS voters in Bydgoszcz. Polish daily Gazeta Wyborcza revealed that Morawiecki addressed the audience, saying that "the state needs more savings and investments rather than consumption." He also reminded "that 500+ is financed from credit." "We have indebted the state for an additional PLN 20 billion to promote fertility. We are among ourselves and we don't have to say only fine words," the deputy prime minister told PiS voters. In a commentary for state-owned agency PAP, Morawiecki said that his words "were totally wrong and false interpreted." "We haven't had doubts that this investment will bring returns and it is worth financing...The 500+ is the most important program, with a fundamental meaning for increasing the quality of Polish families lives," Morawiecki said. "PLN 20 billion is not excessive cost for tackling the demographic crisis," he also added.