FinMin Says Ministers Must Present Spending-Cut Plans By Mid-Dec

Ministries will have until mid-December to present their spending-cut plans, Poland's Finance Minister Rzeczkowska told reporters today. It will be up to the ministries to identify particular areas where they could reduce spending, but the Cabinet discussed focusing on new fiscal proposals for the first half of 2023.

• "During the Cabinet meeting we discussed focusing on new spending, especially in the first quarters of 2023. As the Ministry of Finance, we have been paying special attention to all additional expenditure, but in the first half [of 2023] we will be even more categoricacl about that."
• Rzeczkowska noted that certain areas will be exempt from the general fiscal tightening effort. These include national defence, public health and social benefits. Otherwise, ministries have been asked to propose plans on how to reduce their 2023 spending by up to 5%.
• Onet had earlier reported that the instruction to tighten belts next year has sparked backlash from some Cabinet ministers. A government source told Onet that spending cuts would mostly affect rank-and-file civil servants, who rely on cyclical bonuses to boost otherwise low salaries.