Pre-election sweeteners come at a price that flies in the face of Hausner plan

According to Rzeczpospolita estimates, current ideas being bandied about politicians with their eyes on the polls could cost the budget more than zł.14 billion over the next few years. At present, deputies want to transfer money from the public purse to fund hospital worker pay increases (at a cost put at zł.3.5-4 billion), increasing the lowest level of pensions (put at around zł.3.5 billion) and increasing the tax-free amount for the poorest citizens (totalling an estimated zł.1.5 billion). Another difficult issue for the budget will be carrying out the government's plan of paying social insurance premiums for those entrepreneurs who take on either a graduate or a long-term member of the unemployed. (Rzeczpospolita, pp. A1, B1) M.M.