Scale of economic upswing will likely surprise us - expert

The speed of Poland's economic recovery from the Covid-19 crisis may be much greater than expected, a deputy head of the Polish Development Fund (PFR) has said.

"If there are no so-called black swan events, like, for instance, new coronavirus mutations or the failure of the vaccination programme, the scale of the economic upswing after the pandemic may exceed our expectations," Bartosz Marczuk told PAP.

"Taking into account what could have happened in the economy after March 2020, one could say that the Polish economy managed very well to overcome the crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic," he said.

Marczuk added that the proof of this were all the basic macroeconomic indices, including the growth of GDP, industrial production, retail sales as well as the unemployment and employment rates.

According to the PFR deputy head, this has been possible owing to the rapid launch of the anti-crisis shields and financial aid to companies, which have made it possible for Polish companies to stop the growth of unemployment.

"Today, a year after the outbreak of the pandemic, we can even see a slight growth in new jobs," he said.

Marczuk added that the relatively good economic results posted by Polish entrepreneurs were also an effect of "their incredible vitality and ability to adjust to difficult conditions.

"This is a survival gene, resulting from our history and years of economic transformation," he explained.

He added that Poland was among the global leaders regarding the aid offered to companies, since the value of assistance funds had already exceeded PLN 210 billion (EUR 46.7 billion), that is around 8 percent of Poland's GDP.

Marczuk stated that the expected growth of individual consumption, the improving global sentiment as well as funds from the National Recovery Plan and the EU budget for 2021-2027 should strengthen the economic upswing in Poland.

According to Poland's statistical office, Poland's economy shrank by 2.7 percent in 2020. In 2021, the GDP growth is expected to reach 3.8 percent, and 4.3 percent in 2022.