National debt could exceed 50% of GDP by year's end

Poland's public debt could exceed 50% of GDP by the end of the year. If this gloomy yet reasonable prediction were to prove true, any further budget deficit would be prohibited by law. According to Rzeczpospolita, the government's financial state is under stress due to poor economic growth, a falling currency, high interest rates and a sluggish privatization process. The deficit is also connected with debts incurred by the nation's health care centers (ZOZ) which exceeded zl. 2 billion in mid-2001 and are believed to have reached nearly zl. 5 billion at the end of last year. Similar problems are visible in local budgets, the indebtedness of which is believed to have increased in 2001 by some 54% to zl. 14.5 billion. The Social Insurance Company (ZUS), which owes some zl. 6 billion to pension funds and has high interest rates on their loans, contributes a great deal to the government's deficit. (Rzeczpospolita, pp. A1, B1) M.K.