SLD leader Miller expresses support for foreign debt restructuring

The leader of the Democratic Left Alliance (SLD), Leszek Miller, said in an interview for Polityka weekly that Poland should consider restructuring the repayment schedule of its foreign debts. According to Miller, the state budget in the coming years will not be able to service Poland's hefty foreign debts, which now amount to $28 billion. Economists were surprised by Miller's statement, claiming that in fact Poland can afford to pay its debts back on schedule. Restructuring Poland's foreign debts was already agreed to once before in 1989 after talks with both governmental creditors and commercial banks resulted in a new debt servicing time frame. Notably, those agreements allowed for cancelling almost half of Poland's debt and converting the rest into Brady bonds. (Rzeczpospolita, p.B1) A.D.