Poland's Economic Growth May Drop 15% on Emission Permit Costs

Poland's economic growth may slow by as much as 15 percent should the European Union force the nation's power producers to buy all their carbon-emission permits from 2013, Deputy Environment Minister Bernard Blaszczyk said.

If free permit allocations are replaced by compulsory auctions, ``all the sectors of the economy would bear the costs'' because power prices would rise, Blaszczyk said today in an interview in Warsaw. ``The drop in economic growth from 2013 could reach, according to preliminary estimates, between 5 percent and 15 percent.''