Blog by Michael Clay

Polish Businessmen Take Their Businesses Out of Poland

The number of Polish companies deciding to register companies outside Poland grew 20% y/y to over 4k annually, the daily Puls Biznesu writes citing Polish trust companies association SPP's data.

Poles register their business abroad to save on taxes or take advantage of better conditions for business, trust company Opustrust CEO Agnieszka Rzepecka told the daily.

Perhaps Polish companies realise the potential of exporting and trading overseas more than their British counterparts do at the moment. The ease with which Polish companies can set up in the UK is just one example of why Polish exports are on the increase and British exports to Poland are reducing year on year.

Why is it that the British Exporter FAILS to see the opportunity that is staring themin the face by exporting to Poland? With sterling at such a low value the opportunity is sitting there for the UK companies to grab with both hands - yet they fail to do so. WHY?

Perhaps the new ' Business Incubator' service which Export Poland has just started will help to resolve this. With the Business Incubator, British and overseas companies can be trading in Poland within 48 hours of setting up with a Company, Bank account and all relevant tax registrations. They will look after every aspect of the incubation and create the business opportunity for the company as well.

Contact Michael Clay for more details:-

Poland CEE Region's Leader in Attracting FDI: Ernst &Young

Poland has become the CEE region's leader in attracting foreign investments, having taken over Russia and Romania, consultancy Ernst & Young's report on European attractiveness for investors in 2009 showed, Puls Biznesu writes.

The accumulated FDI in Poland amounted to USD 161.4 bln by end-2008, a value higher than the one in the Czech Republic or Denmark, UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) World Investment Report 2008 revealed.

This is just one more example of how Poland has become one of the SuperPowers in the European market and a recent report by HSBC clearly shows how well Poland has coped with this recession.

 As more and more evidence accumulates of the success of Poland and her economy, with rising GDP throughout the last 12 months, the more the rest of europe begins to find great respect for the Polish attitude to the crisis.

No Chance for Poland to Adopt Euro Before 2015 - GD ECFIN Official

Poland will likely be able to adopt the euro only beyond 2015, a high official from the Directorate-General for Economic and Financial Affairs told PAP.

"Poland practically has no chances of entering the euro zone ahead of 2015," the official said. "It is a rather common opinion among economists and EU decision-makers.

Based on the EU autumn forecast, Poland will have problems with meeting the fiscal criterion in the next 2-3 years, the official stressed.

"The EC recommendation indicates that your country should decrease the general government deficit to 3% of GDP in 2012 - it is to some point possible but in our opinion it will be difficult and the opinion that Poland might want the EC to change its recommendation to at least 2013 is common," the official added.

The European Commission expects this deficit to stand at 6.4% in 2009, at 7.5% in 2010 and at 7.6% in 2011, in the absence of government actions regarding the fiscal policy.

First we are advised that 2012 will be the date for adopting the Euro and then 2015 and now we have a new target date of some time after 2015. When will Poland really be in a position to adopt the euro and how will this affect it's economy?

Will the Polish people really welcome the euro?, and perhaps see the costs of everyday life increasing as they have done in all other counties that have already adopted the currency.

Poland Sees GDP Growth in Q3 Again

Poland's economy is expected to have grown by some 1% in Q3, deputy Finance Minister Ludwik Kotecki told PAP.

Q2 GDP growth amounted to 1.1%. In late August Kotecki said Q3 result would be lower than the Q2 reading.

Once again, Poland looks like being the LEADING economy within Europe with a GDP that many of the other EU nations would just love to be able to show. How can Poland do this every quarter this year to date when others have failed so miserably?

Perhaps it is the mindset of the Polish Government and its determination to learn from the mistakes that the Western nations have made. Perhaps it is the constant message to the Polish people that they must be aware of the dangers around them in overspending.

Whatever the message is, it seems to be working.

Polish Government Approves Draft 2010 Budget

The budget bill which was passed by the cabinet yesterday leaves the budget deficit intact at 52.2 billion zlotys, "large but safe." as called by the Finance Minister Jacek Rostowski.

The government assumes budget receipts in 2010 at 248.87 billion zlotys versus 245.50 billion zlotys in the earlier draft and increases spending to 301.08 billion zlotys from 297.72 billion zlotys.

Budget revenues will be most affected by decrease in VAT receipts, tax deductions for bio-components, increased excise on cigarettes as well as PIT and CIT changes related to use of company cars, the statement on the budget said.

Poland's economy will grow by 2.8% in 2011, 3% in 2012 and 3.4% in 2013, according to the approved budget bill .

I guess the consumer ends up paying the increases in taxation on Cigarettes, Beer, Wines and Alcohol as well as probable increase in Petrol prices.

Zloty Pressured by Polish Fiscal Outlook

Recent weakness of the Polish zloty is the likely result of negative news on the 2010 budget outlook, Monetary Policy Council member Halina Wasilewska-Trenkner told the daily Gazeta Prawna.

Poland's planned PLN 52.2 billion zloty headline state budget deficit and, more importantly, a broader public finance deficit reaching towards 7% of GDP is "very big, both in nominal terms and as a percent of GDP."

"Countries don't usually gain credibility that way, but their reputation rather worsens," Wasilewska-Trenkner said.

"It is possible that information about the deficit and generally about the shape of the budget for next year will provide temporary downward pressure on the zloty."