Domański: We are now ahead of Switzerland and catching up with the Netherlands

Finance Minister Andrzej Domański emphasized in Łódź that by 2025, Poland will join the world's 20 largest economies, overtaking Switzerland and catching up with Saudi Arabia and the Netherlands. He also announced that, according to forecasts, Poland's economic growth in 2030 will be twice the EU average.

On Saturday, the Minister of Finance, Andrzej Domański, took part in the Freedom Games in Łódź, delivering an introductory lecture to the debate on Polonization and investing in the Polish economy.

"I am absolutely convinced that 2025 is a special year for the Polish economy, a year in which Poland will transcend symbolic boundaries. We will join the world's 20 largest economies, overtaking Switzerland. In 1989, our country ranked 35th in terms of economic size, with a nominal GDP of just under $67 billion. According to the latest forecasts from the International Monetary Fund, our GDP will exceed $1 trillion this year, putting Poland ahead of Switzerland and catching up with Saudi Arabia and the Netherlands," said Andrzej Domański.

According to the head of the Ministry of Finance, this is proof that 35 years of consistent work, reforms, openness and entrepreneurship have brought results.

"The freedom gained in 1989, the overthrow of communism, led to the eruption of the free market. We built very strong institutions. We joined the European Union, and I'm talking primarily about access to the common market. We managed to build a strong, highly diversified economy. Looking at what's happening in other countries of Central and Eastern Europe, we see that our diversification – the fact that we don't have a single national champion, but several strong economic sectors – makes us more resilient to external shocks," said Minister Domański.

He recalled the words of Lech Wałęsa, who promised Poles a second Japan. "This will happen in 2025. According to IMF data, Poland will overtake Japan in terms of GDP per capita adjusted for price levels ," Domański said.

Domański warned, however, that the advantages on which the strength of the Polish economy was built were gradually being exhausted and that in a world of growing geopolitical tensions, slowing globalization, and the enormous pace of technological transformation, maintaining the dynamics of development required something more.

"It requires courage, a vision for new sources and new engines of economic growth. That's why we're talking about a new stage of development today, and that's why we're also talking about the upcoming golden decade of the Polish economy. We're talking about reindustrialization, innovation, and increased productivity. OECD forecasts predict that by 2026, the Polish economy will be among the fastest-growing economies in Europe. The International Monetary Fund, in turn, predicts that by 2030, Poland's economic growth rate will be twice the EU average," said the minister.

He noted that signs of economic recovery in the Polish economy are already visible, but public investments must be the impetus, even though private investments are the foundation of Poland's economic development.

Andrzej Domański said that the value of the public procurement market in 2024 exceeded PLN 587 billion, which is a powerful lever that, if used wisely, can stimulate hundreds of thousands of companies across the country.

"It is extremely important for me to make it very clear here in Łódź during the Freedom Games, where free-market ideas are at the heart of thinking: we want to support the private sector in Poland. We want to support private sector companies in Poland. We know there is plenty of room for this growth here," said the Minister of Finance.

He added that only 30% of the Polish economy is made up of Polish private companies. This, according to Domański, demonstrates how much room there is still for the private sector to grow in importance in Poland.

"And why do we care about it growing? Because the efficiency of companies in the private sector is three times higher than that of state-owned companies operating in the same sectors of the economy . (...) By supporting the private sector, we can gain a certain amount of leverage, we can achieve much more for the Polish economy. But at the same time, we know that to make this possible, we, as a state, we, as a government, must create conditions for more investment in Poland, for more capital for companies," emphasized Andrzej Domański.

He added that there is no sustainable growth without economic freedom. There is no innovation without trust in entrepreneurs.

"For me, the government's enormous deregulation effort is, in fact, an effort to increase freedom. This year, we began the largest deregulation process of the Polish economy in 35 years. Thanks to cooperation with entrepreneurs and social organizations, we have already adopted nearly 150 specific legislative changes that will simply make doing business in Poland easier," said Domański.

He assessed that deregulation, in addition to making it easier to run a business, could have a very specific impact on macroeconomic data - even by one percentage point of GDP per year.

Andrzej Domański said that for the government, repolonizing the economy means creating space and conditions for Polish companies, including financial conditions, to participate in the massive investment process currently underway in Poland.

- We want to support primarily private sector companies, and we have plenty of room to increase the private sector in Poland - concluded the minister.

The 12th Freedom Games in Łódź are held under the slogan "Time of Uncertainty." Experts from around the world are participating in debates on topics such as how to function in times of ongoing conflict, the threat of populism and the fascism of public life, and the politics of China, Latin America, and the Middle East. Meetings with experts in economics, social sciences, and culture are also planned. Most of the expert debates are being broadcast live on the organizer's website. The event runs at the Łódź EXPO hall until Sunday. (PAP)

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