Sejm to vote on budget-related bills today
Today, the Sejm is going to vote on the government's budget-related bills, which are to secure some PLN 3.4bn (USD 776mn) for the next year budget. It is expected that the controversial bills will not find support among the deputies. A debate on the bills held in the parliamentary committee on Tuesday showed that only the ruling AWS supported the bills unconditionally, and the bills were passed through only by one vote. The most controversial bill calls for changes in the Teachers Charter, which would limit teachers' wage increases by about PLN 1.8bn next year. The government would also like to achieve expenditure cuts in other areas, such as health security, and also through a road tax and cuts in some social security outlays. Although AWS has made an agreement with UW on supporting the budget, many of the above bills are opposed by UW deputies. If the budget related bills are rejected by the Sejm, the government might have to use the next year's revenue from selling the UMTS licenses, or PLN 2.930bn (USD 669mn) to fill the budget gap. Last month, Finance Minister Jaroslaw Bauc said that if the UMTS sale succeeded, the proceeds would be used to limit the government's budget deficit and not boost spending.
Źródło:IntelliNews Daily
