Sławomir Mentzen – speech in the Sejm on behalf of the Confederation's Members' Club on the draft budget law for 2025, 10 October 2024.
Finally, we received the first authorial budget of Donald Tusk and Minister Domanski. Prime Minister Donald Tusk himself described this budget as liable but generous. That's half true. The budget is indeed generous, but in no case is it liable – it is even a evidence irresponsible.
We have a planned evidence budget deficit as well as evidence debt levels. Interest costs are besides record-breaking – they will be nearly twice as advanced as spending on higher education and education, than spending on 800+, than PIT revenues.
We besides have planned evidence borrowing needs and evidence spending levels, all in a quiet way. We have no crisis, we have no disaster—unless your governments call themselves a disaster—at this point there is no war on our lands, and yet we have a evidence deficit and evidence debt.
Then what would happen if the situation had actually worsened if we had fallen into a recession if there had been an even greater hazard of armed conflict, if we had specified debt in this peaceful, safe situation? After all, GDP growth is expected to be almost 4%. That's a lot. If we are so indebted with specified good economical results, then something is very wrong.
In figures, this budget is as follows. The revenues are at the level of PLN 633 billion, i.e. by PLN 50 billion little than planned but not executed a year ago. In turn expenditure was set at the level of evidence 922 billion PLN – by 56 billion PLN more than a year ago. State deficit: again evidence 289 billion PLN – by 105 billion PLN more than a year ago. This is nominally the highest deficit in Poland's history.
At the same time, specified a advanced deficit means that it represents 50% of planned gross and 1/3 of expenditure. This means that taxes would should be increased by 50% – taxation gross by 50%, not by the rate, due to the fact that it would have made the situation even worse, given the Laffer curve – so that there would be no deficit. So you lost all the brakes, so you let go of the rails, so your platform drove off with the full station, that you would gotta increase your taxation revenues by 50% to balance this budget.
Loan needs: PLN 367 billion net – by PLN 85 billion more than a year ago, and PLN 553 billion gross – by PLN 104 billion more than a year ago. We request to generate, we request to find backing to cover PLN 550 billion of this gross debt. This has negative consequences for our economy.
This sovereign debt displaces private debt, increases the interest rate on loans, makes it hard for companies to take credit for any investment. Moreover, it makes us more susceptible to abroad influence.
Here I would like to remind you of the 2011 situation, erstwhile suddenly, it is not known why alleged financial markets, abroad banks have ceased to finance Italy's debt. Spread, the difference between the interest rate on Italian and German debt – both were in euro – reached 6%. Thus Silvio Berlusconi was forced to resign and replaced by a man sent in a folder from Brussels, or Mario Monti.
A fewer years later, Timothy Geithner, then Secretary of Treasury in the United States, wrote in his memoirs that these financial markets refused to finance Italy's debt at the command of the major European politicians who asked him, Geithner, to join the United States in this conspiracy to overthrow the Italian Prime Minister. It was only possible due to the fact that the Italians had advanced debt. In this way, creating the request to find over PLN 500 billion to pay off the fresh debt, you exposure yourself to the fact that the same politicians who have overthrown Berlusconi will want to influence who will be Prime Minister of the Polish State.
You translate these tragic, catastrophic data in 2 ways. The first is the increase in arms spending and the second is the repayment of PFR and COVID-19 commitments. Both of these translations are false. Of course, I agree that arms spending is important, investment should not, of course, be as inefficient as those made by you, but it is impossible to explain specified a advanced increase in arms spending.
The primary reason is that, around 2019, PiS politicians discovered that they could circumvent the stabilizing spending regulation by shifting out of budget to funds that were not provided for by the Public Finance Act. As a consequence of this policy, from 2019 to 2024 the share of public spending in our GDP increased from 41% to 49%. This is the most crucial thing in Europe, this is more than those welfare countries, Sweden and Denmark spend. We spend so much at this point.
Almost half of our GDP is distributed, issued by incompetent politicians and officials. You've spread our country so much.
Prof. Andrzej Rzoniec, erstwhile advisor to the Civic Platform, author of your program for 2019.
he calculated that if from 2019 the rate of growth in public spending was at the level of economical growth – which is not any large belt tightening, it is relaxing
This belt, but so slow – at this point, in 2024 we would not have a deficit. Yes, we wouldn't have a deficit if you were to increase public spending, both at a rate of economical growth. This pace would inactive be 5th across Europe, throughout the European Union, to increase public spending. It would be a fast pace, but it would not be a deficit right now.
Moreover, if we double the current immense arms spending, the deficit would be lower than it is now. So don't explain your arms spending. The full budget has swelled, not just the reinforcements. We could easy finance these weapons if it wasn't for the another expenses. PLN 150 million is planned for the social budget itself, small little than for reinforcements.
It is besides interesting about these extra-budget funds, due to the fact that you have actually planned to pay PFR for the sum of PLN 34 billion or the COVID-19 fund – almost PLN 29 billion. But in no way have you solved the problems of extra-budget funds, you have even increased them.
The budget shows that the difference between this Polish, inept, undercalculation of public debt and this European debt rises to 11.9% of GDP, and in 2023 it amounted to 10.6%. This means that the problem of out-of-budget funds is expanding alternatively than decreasing.
According to Dr. Sławomir Dudek, this means that hidden debt in these non-budget funds will increase from PLN 363 billion to PLN 472 billion from 2024 to 2025 despite the repayment of over PLN 60 billion this year. This means an increase of PLN 109 billion in 2 years. This is 2 years erstwhile you rule: 2024 and 2025 PLN 190 billion – aside from the repayment of these funds – that's how much these funds grow in 2 years.
This is your work, you hide this money on a scale akin to or even beyond the scale in which the Law and Justice did it.
I besides have no assurance in your income estimates. A year ago, from this speaker, I told you that you were absolutely inflating, and in a ridiculous way, planned taxation revenues, including VAT revenues. You compose in the proceeds from the NBP that won't be there. A year passed and the Ministry of Finance itself admitted that it actually overstated taxation revenues by PLN 40 billion. At the same time, you lowered the NFZ budget by PLN 30 billion last year. Until now, the spending of the NFZ had to be increased by PLN 22 billion, and by the end of the year according to economists it will should be increased by PLN 8 billion.
Of course, there is no place in this budget for taxation cuts. Now, I wouldn't blame it if the prime minister were Czarzasty, if the finance minister was Zandberg, if these high-tax lovers were in charge, supporters of robbing hard-working people. But the Civic Platform rules, the Prime Minister is from the Platform, the Finance Minister is from the Platform.
You promised to cut taxes, you promised to cut Belka's taxes, rise the tax-free amount, and you didn't bring it. Either you lied to people, or last year you didn't know the situation of our public finances. I said then: it is impossible to lower taxes and increase spending and keep budgetary discipline and budgetary balance. The minister in the debate with me said it could, and it couldn't. You were incorrect again.
In summary: in August 2023 Andrzej Domanski described the PiS-owski budget in specified a way, you were outraged at the fact that the deficit was rising to PLN 165 billion and debt needs to PLN 225 billion. You wrote this: A PiS like this in a pill, apologize and get lost. Today, in your author's budget, all these values are much worse than in the PiS budget. erstwhile will you apologize and erstwhile will you leave?
To conclude: the debt is bad, whether it owes us the Law or if it owes us the Civic Platform, there should be as small money in the budget as possible, due to the fact that people spend their money more effectively than through politicians and officials.
Taxes should be low and simple, and this budget –
Rejected.
