The Sejm adopted on Friday a draft budget for 2020. The bill assumes revenue and spending to be balanced at 435.3 billion zlotys. In the third reading, the Sejm made minor adjustments to the bill. If case the bill eventually becomes law, it would be the first balanced budget in Poland's history.
In favour of the draft budget were 231 MPs, 217 were against, and one person abstained.
Before the voting session, the head of the Sejm Public Finance Committee chief Henryk Kowalczyk (Law and Justice) said that the draft "had not been spoiled" during parliamentary works, and the budget still wouldn't assume deficit.
MPs also examined 111 amendments, submitted in the second reading, and adopted 15 of them. The chamber rejected, however, 460 motions submitted by the minority.
The bill will now find its way to the Senate. The opposition-controlled upper house can reject the bill, however, the Sejm may later on disregard the decision and pass the bill once more and send it to the president to ratify.
"I have wonderful news for all of us. The first-ever no-deficit budget becomes reality!" - Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki wrote on Facebook.
"What's crucial is that this budget doesn't assume cuts in key areas for citizens. It foresees very high spending on social policy, for instance, support for elders and the youth. High spending on development. All thanks to hard work done by Poles and improvement of tax revenue" - PM Morawiecki wrote.
Autorka/Autor: gf
Źródło: TVN24 News in English, PAP