PiS economic plan in a nutshell

A speech by the party's candidate for the office of Prime Minister, Beata Szydło, was the climax of Law and Justice (PiS) three-day long congress. The contender outlined her party's economic plan, which the party will implement if it wins the 2015 parliamentary election. Szydło referred in her speech to patriotic ideas and values. She condemned the share of foreign institutions in the Polish banking sector (60%), the share of Polish exports from companies with overseas capital (two thirds) and called for, inter alia, the building of ships in Polish shipyards, increasing the efficiency of Polish mines and purchasing Polish transport vehicles instead of their foreign counterparts. In her party's opinion, Poland should seek a balance between foreign and national firms and create an environment for Polish enterprises to develop. Aside from general ideas, she referred to a few of specific ones. PiS plans to introduce a family program, in which every family would be granted PLN 500 for the second and every following child. It is a measure to nudge the natural increase rate in Poland, currently oscillating around 0 percent. The party also intends to increase the income tax threshold from PLN 3,000 to PLN 8,000. However the predominant idea of PiS is to decrease the retirement age from 67 (implemented by the incumbent PO-PSL coalition) to 63 (a return to the state of affairs prior to the PO-PSL reform in 2012). Szydło outlined the suggested sources and estimated revenues for the plan. From the value added tax, PiS plans to receive additional PLN 9 mln. The party also points to a loss of tax efficiency during PO-PSL's term in office. The coalition supposedly lost PLN 52 mln. Ceasing the leakage of money to tax havens would reportedly increase government revenue by PLN 4 mln on an annual basis. The party also intends to introduce a sales tax for supermarkets (estimated revenue of PLN 3 mln) and a bank tax (PLN 5 mln). Hence, the total additional revenue projected by PiS amounts to PLN 73 mln.