Warsaw: Poland will use the mode of financing used to fight the economic consequences Covid-19 to help fund a major increase in military spending, the defense minister said on Tuesday, as the government seeks to modernize and expand the armed forces.
The Polish government has used bonds issued by agencies such as the National Development Bank BGK or PFR State Fund – but secured by the state – to finance most of their spending to help the economy through a pandemic.
This has helped them avoid including such expenses in the state budget, a tactic that has been criticized by the Audit Office as a supreme lack of transparency.
Mariusz Blaszczak Defense Minister said the government would create a fund supporting the armed forces, which is funded by government-guaranteed bonds issued by BGK, treasury bonds, the state budget and the profits of the central bank.
“This solution is used by the Fund Covid.
I would like to underline that the funds supporting the armed forces will be run by BGK, so it will not be an additional institution,” said Blaszczak at a press conference.
He did not say exactly how much the expansion and modernization of the armed forces will be charged.
However, the leader of the Polish Law and Justice Party (PIS), Jaroslaw Kaczynski, said spending will be “significantly higher” than 2% of gross domestic product, the required level of NATO countries that have exceeded Poland.
“Better to be safe and a little more debt,” said Kaczynski.
Blaszczak said defense ministry aims to have more than 250,000 full-time soldiers and more than 50,000 members of the territorial defense forces, which consist of professional soldiers and part-time volunteers.
In 2020, there were approximately 110,000 full-time soldiers.