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Since its return to democracy, Poland has steadfastly pursued a policy of liberalizing the economy and today stands out as one of the most successful and open examples of the transition from a partially state-capitalist market economy to a primarily privately owned market economy. The privatization of small and medium state-owned companies and a liberal law on establishing new firms have allowed the development of an aggressive private sector, followed by a development of consumer rights organizations later on. Restructuring and privatization of "sensitive sectors" (e.g., coal, steel, railways, and energy) has begun. The biggest privatizations so far were a sale of Telekomunikacja Polska, a national telecom to France Telecom (2000) and an issue of 30% shares of the biggest Polish bank, PKO BP, on the Polish stock market (2004). Poland has a large agricultural sector of private farms, that could be a leading producer of food in the European Union now that Poland is a member. Challenges remain, especially under-investment. Structural reforms in health care, education, the pension system, and state administration have resulted in larger-than-expected fiscal pressures. Warsaw leads Central Europe in foreign investment and needs a continued large inflow. GDP growth had been strong and steady from 1993 to 2000 with only a short slowdown from 2001 to 2002. The prospect of closer integration with the European Union has put the economy back on track, with growth of 3.7% annually in 2003, a rise from 1.4% annually in 2002. In 2004 GDP growth equaled 5.4%, and in 2005 3.3%. Forecasted GDP for 2006 is 5.0%. Although the Polish economy is currently undergoing an economic progress, there are many challenges ahead. The most notable task on the horizon is the preparation of the economy (through continuing deep structural reforms) to allow Poland to meet the strict economic criteria for entry into the European Single Currency. There is much speculation as to just when Poland might be allowed to join the Euro zone, although the best guess estimates put the entry date somewhere between 2009 and 2013. For now, Poland is preparing to make the Euro its official currency (though it has not joined the ERM yet), and the Złoty will eventually be abolished from the Polish economy. Since joining the European Union, many young Polish people have left their country to work in other EU countries because of high unemployment rate, which is the highest in the EU (15.7% in July 2006). Products Poland produces include clothes, electronics, cars (including luxury car Leopard), buses (Autosan, Jelcz SA, Solaris, Solbus), helicopters (PZL Świdnik), transport equipment, locomotives, planes (PZL Mielec), ships, military engineering (including tanks, SPAAG systems), medicines (Polpharma, Polfa, etc), food, chemical products etc |
Poland Information: Inside
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