Prime Minister Donald Tusk hasn't been great at keeping his promises. During the 2007 election campaign, he promised an 'economic miracle' if his party was brought to power – so much for that. Last September, he said that Poland would enter the euro zone in 2012 – that now looks impossible.

And just this weekend the Prime Minister made another promise – one that many of us wonder if he will be able to keep.

“[O]n the basis of premises that have emerged while drafting next year’s budget, I can finally settle this matter once and for all ... Estimates indicate that the Polish economy is in a better situation than those of the neighboring countries, and this allows me to say this with 100-percent confidence: taxes will not be raised in 2010.”

Does anyone else cringe when they read the words “100-percent confidence”?

Being a child of the 80s, when I heard this I was immediately reminded of George H. W. Bush's now infamous “Read my lips: No new taxes” promise. Of course, after he was elected, Bush 41 was promptly forced to raise taxes.

This promise has that type of smell to it: Despite Poland doing better than its neighbors, the economy isn't going gangbusters. Plenty of analysts believe that Poland will head into recession this year, and estimates for economic growth next year are anemic. How will the government raise funds to cover the expected gaping budget deficit, if not by taxes then? There is too much political pressure against cutting government spending – President Kaczyński would likely be dead-set against it.

The only choice then, would be to speed up privatization, which the government has said it will do. (Admittedly privatization revenues are not counted against the budget deficit. However they can be used to finance the deficit instead of borrowing.)

But in this tough economy, it's unlikely that the government will be able to get what it wants for its state-owned giants. Currently, the government is trying to resolve the PZU situation amicably, getting a good price for the stake in PZU that it is obligated to sell Dutch insurer Eureko – things don't seem to be going well. Also, the government has already ruled out selling KGHM, since the price the state would get for it would only amount to 5 years worth of the copper-miner's profit.

Buyers know that now is a time to get a good deal, and won't accept anything less.

This reporter certainly hopes that Prime Minister Tusk will be able to come through on his promise and not raise taxes ... but that is looking increasingly unlikely. You don't have to read his lips – just take a look at the government's balance sheet.