The European Commission has predicted that Poland’s economy could grow by 2.7 percent this year, which would make it the fastest growing economy in the European Union. An article in today’s Financial Times points out this would cap off 15.8 percent growth between 2008 and 2011, when the rest of the union saw its GDP growth back into reverse with 0.5 percent shrinkage.
There are various reasons given for this, including the huge investments made into the country’s infrastructure, which has included substantial EU funding. In addition the country has a robust domestic market, providing its producers with buyers, though they still must fight off competition from abroad. The FT cites Poland’s former finance minister Andrzej Raczko as saying Poles tend to consume, rather than save in a downturn.
But the FT’s article starts off with a provocative quote from Krzystztof Szymanski, who is sales director at the brakes parts manufacturere Tomex. “Workers in the rest of Europe are simply lazier,” he says. “Poles work harder than almost anyone else in the union and they cost less too. That’s why we’re based here and that’s why our sales are going up every year.”
