Poland reserves PLN 3.2 billion for aid in the event of catastrophic floods – Firstpost

As a result of the worst floods in over two decades, several cities in southwestern Poland were under water. In response, the government announced plans to allocate a total of PLN 23 billion from the state budget and European Union funds to remove the effects of the disaster.
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Poland’s draft budget for 2025 includes PLN 3.2 billion as a reserve for natural disasters, the Finance Minister announced on Saturday after devastating floods devastated the country.

The government announced that it would release a total of PLN 23 billion from the budget and European Union funds to deal with the effects of the floods, the worst in at least two decades that have flooded many cities in southwestern Poland.

The flood also deepened the financial concerns of the government facing the prospect of introducing EU budget discipline measures.

“We are increasing the funds for the reserve for counteracting natural disasters to PLN 3.191 billion and this reserve may increase,” said Minister of Finance Andrzej Domański at a government meeting.

He also announced that the government would transfer PLN 738 million from the general subsidy reserve to local governments affected by the flood.

He said that no decision had yet been made on whether changes would be necessary in the 2024 budget, but reiterated that the floods had made this more likely.

The government is to adopt the draft budget for 2025 at the next meeting, which will be closed to the media on Saturday.

In August, he announced that, in accordance with the assumptions of the 2025 budget, the public finance sector deficit would increase to 5.5% of GDP. This would result from increased defense spending and an end to some of the previous administration’s practices that critics said kept costs off the books.