ZUS with PLN 3 bilion less than expected

The Social Insurance Institution (ZUS) notes, according to Puls Biznesu, that it's income in first half of 2014 was PLN 65.8 billion. This result is PLN 0.3 billion lower than in the first two quarters of 2013. It is the first decline since 2008. The loss is surprising. The Central Statistical Office (GUS) reports, that the economy experiences a rapid 3.3 percent growth and the average income rose by 4.1 percent in the first half of 2014, so ZUS income was supposed to be higher than last year's by over 4 percent, summing up to PLN 3 billion. The reasons of such situation are complex, experts suggest. Jakub Borowski, Credit Agricole main economist opts for the hypothesis that more and more workers choose not to pay ZUS fees and work on "śmieciówka", an employment contract giving fewer rights to the employee. The growth of the shadow work market can be also one of the causes of a current ZUS income  gap. On the other hand, Wiktor Wojciechowski, Plus Bank main economist, explains the phenomenon by questioning the GUS data. "It only shows a piece of the work market, companies that employ more than 9 people." Another hypothesis is that employers are late with the fees. This explanation, however, is not sufficient since current data shows that the liquidity of Polish companies have increased.