Poland Fuels Growth with Privatisation

Poland had the unique distinction of being the only EU country to stay out of recession the past two years, a lure for ever-important foreign investors. Now on the outer reaches of a global recession, as economies begin to pick up, Poland’s large-scale privatization push, which was launched in 2008, is providing even more reason for investors to swoop in and snatch assets or stakes in formerly state-owned companies, and the energy sector in particular. But the country’s strategy of promoting growth at the expense of stable public finances could cost it in the long term, analysts say.

Prime Minister Donald Tusk campaigned in 2007 on expediting privatization, even before the crisis hit, and the revenues from the sales, which were planned to be held from 2008 to 2011, are now helping the country cover a budget deficit that could grow to 8 percent of GDP this year, Tusk admitted this month…

Read more at The Prague Post.