Tax & Spend

Poland Expects Public Debt to Top Threshold Triggering Austerity

Armored vehicles of the Polish army beside anti-tank defences at the first built part of the East Shield at Poland's border with Russia, in Dabrowka, Poland.

Photographer: Damian Lemański/Bloomberg

Poland’s public debt is set to breach a threshold in 2028 that would trigger austerity measures, complicating government efforts to ramp up defense spending without unpopular cuts in welfare.

The cabinet’s medium-term fiscal strategy, published on Tuesday, showedBloomberg Terminal that public debt will exceed the key level of 55% of economic output in 2028, up from 52.6% projected for next year. This means that “prudential procedures,” or public-spending restrictions, would be in place from 2030, the document said.