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Poland to spend $5.9 bln on family benefits-paper

07 Mar 2007 07:41:40 GMT
Source: Reuters

WARSAW, March 7 (Reuters) - The Polish government plans to spend 17.5 billion zlotys ($5.89 billion) over the next seven years on policies designed to encourage women to have more children, a Polish newspaper reported on Wednesday.

The daily Rzeczpospolita quoted Deputy Labour and Social Policy Minister Joanna Kluzik-Rostkowska as saying the government would extend maternity benefit by up to eight weeks to 26 weeks by 2014.

Tax breaks for families with several children would also be increased, though exact details of this proposal were unclear.

"The programme is ready. We are waiting for confirmation from the prime minister that we have finances secured for this," it quoted Kluzik-Rostkowska as saying.

Ministry officials were not available for immediate comment.

Rzeczpospolita said around 2 billion zlotys of the planned 17.5 billion zloty programme would be spent in 2008.

The newspaper did not say where the extra money would come from but suggested the rapidly expanding Polish economy could easily afford extra spending on such areas.

The Polish economy grew by 5.8 percent in 2006 and official data suggests growth of at least that is in prospect this year.

Rzeczpospolita said the proposals had been drawn up by the ruling conservative Law and Justice party to gain the support of the two smaller parties in the coalition government for reform of public finances. It gave no further details.

Support for the family is a popular issue in Poland.

The country's population, now just over 38 million, has been declining by around 100,000 per year, partly because of emigration, but also due to a low birth rate of 107.8 births per 10,000, official figures show.

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Last updated:Wed Mar 7 07:43:20 2007