About the Polish economy during the meeting of the Council of Social Dialogue

The Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki participated in the plenary session of the Council of Social Dialogue held in the form of a videoconference. The main issue raised at the meeting was the condition of the Polish economy, including the governmental support provided to enterprises and employees in Poland.

The head of the government emphasized that currently the absolute priority is to save jobs. He also added that it is necessary to maintain the markets and sales of goods. Poland has recorded the second lowest unemployment rate in the entire European Union. In September, the harmonised unemployment rate increased to 3.1%. This is the second lowest result after the Czech Republic. Meanwhile, unemployment oscillates around 8% in France and soars to over 16% in Spain.

The latest forecasts by the European Commission show that Poland may handle the current crisis far better than most of the EU Member States. According to the estimates, Poland is predicted to suffer a slight decline in GDP compared to other Member States.

Nearly PLN 153 billion to support Polish entrepreneurs

The Polish government has been actively supporting entrepreneurs from the very beginning of the crisis caused by COVID-19. So far, we have allocated nearly PLN 153 billion to Polish companies under the Anti-crisis Shield and the Financial Shield and managed to save over 5 million jobs.

As part of the aid, families with children have received travel vouchers. Such action also supports the tourism industry, which has suffered the consequences of the crisis as well. Over 1 million travel vouchers have been granted so far, for a total value of more than PLN 929 million. The Poles have made 321 thousand payments with travel vouchers for a total of PLN 235 million.

10 anti-crisis measures for Polish companies

The government wishes to continue providing aid to entrepreneurs affected by the crisis. As before, the main goal is to save companies and protect Polish citizens against unemployment. The support will include:

  1. Subsidies for fixed costs for small and medium enterprises operating in the industries most affected by the restrictions.
  2. Redemption of subsidies under the Financial Shield of the Polish Development Fund.
  3. Extension of the Financial Shield programme for Large Enterprises until 31.03.2021 (applications) and until 31.06.2020 (payments).
  4. Long-term secured loans.
  5. Employment subsidies.
  6. Extension of idle time pay.
  7. Exemption from contributions to the Social Insurance Institution (ZUS).
  8. Co-financing of business model shifts under the 'Subsidies for business' programme.
  9. Second-chance policy.
  10. Lease subsidies.

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Chancellery of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Poland published this content on 19 November 2020 and is solely responsible for the information contained therein. Distributed by Public, unedited and unaltered, on 03 December 2020 13:44:00 UTC