Poland cannot copy Western solutions for combating inflation, Jarosław Kaczyński said as he revealed that his Law and Justice (PiS) party will begin campaigning in the country “to explain this situation well to the voters.”
According to the latest opinion polling, Polish citizens are becoming increasingly concerned about the cost of living crisis, especially the ever-rising energy prices. The report showed that only 11 percent of households in Poland claim to be resistant to the effects of increasing inflation, whereas 90 percent of Polish families need to cut back on spending.
In an interview with the Gazeta Polska newspaper, the leader of Poland’s ruling party pointed out his commitment to tackling rising prices. Kaczyński said that PiS is facing a question of critical significance.
“Can we contain inflation during the next several months until the election while simultaneously bringing relief to those who are most impacted by it?” Kaczyński asked.
The politician stressed that his party is “in a tight corner” because, on the one hand, it is fighting inflation, and on the other, it is introducing financial shielding and aid mechanisms, which “do not always go in the same direction.”
Kaczyński explained that in the West, inflation is being fought by reducing the purchasing power of citizens, which “most likely will bring results quite soon.” Wage growth there, Kaczyński said, is much lower than the rate of inflation. “But we cannot follow this path because that would be felt much more by Poles. We will not reduce social benefits; instead, we are reducing taxes starting July 1,” the Polish deputy prime minister said.
According to data provided by Statistics Poland, consumer annual inflation in May was 13.9 percent, compared with 12.4 percent in April. The inflation goal of the Polish National Bank (NBP) is 2.5 percent, with a possible variation of one percentage point higher or lower.
However, official data does not reflect the full scale of inflation, as the prices of some products have increased by several dozen percentage points in a short period of time.
