Senate starts debate on draft budget hoping to restore debt-servicing funds

Today the Polish Senate will begin a three day debate on the 2001 budget. The State Budget Act was adopted on Feb. 3 and this will be the last chance to amend it. This year's public debt-servicing costs have been calculated at zl.21.7 billion (zl.5.3 billion for foreign and zl.16.4 billion for domestic debts). However, while searching for areas in which to make savings, the Sejm decided to cut that amount by zl.450 million. The Minister of Finance strongly disapproved that move and hopes that the Senate will accept amendments restoring the initial version of the Act. Although the amendments have not yet been proposed, they may still be put forward during the plenary debate. Additionally, the Senate is ready to propose another amendment for a zl.9 million increase to cover the cost of a multi-task airplane, for which zl.60 million has already been designated. (Prawo i Gospodarka, p.2) M. S.-C.