PM Tusk said a deficit under 3 percent is possible this year Courtesy of KPRM

Prime Minister Donald Tusk said that Eurostat figures released in April 23 which put Poland’s budget deficit for 2011 at 5.1 percent of GDP, less than the 5.6 percent planned by the government, means that a deficit under 3 percent this year and a surplus by 2016 is realistic.

“It is possible that we will achieve a budget surplus in three to four years. This is very important information,” said Mr Tusk.

Finance Minister Jacek Rostowski was also happy with the news, saying, “We have every reason to be happy with the [Eurostat] result. I must remind you that many analysts believed the budget deficit would significantly surpass our 5.6 percent target last year,” said Mr Rostowski.

In the government’s fiscal consolidation program, the deficit is expected to fall to 2.9 percent of GDP this year, to 2.2 percent by 2013 and to 1.6 percent by 2014.

Although Mr Rostowski was reluctant to make a prediction about when Poland’s budget might have a positive balance, he said that a “slight surplus” might be possible by 2016 and that he “doesn’t exclude that it could happen earlier if there’s a good economic climate.”

Regarding public debt, the government expects it to come in at 50.5 percent of GDP by the end of this year and to drop under 50 percent by 2013.

“In favorable conditions, the ratio of the public debt [to GDP], according to Polish accounting, may be below 50 percent next year,” said Mr Rostowski.