Armed Forces
Poland increases its defence budget up to PLN 38 billion. F-16 installments will be paid back
Ilustracja: SES GS
In the year 2015 Poland will allocate over PLN 38 billion in the defence budget spending, which is an amount equal to almost 2.3% of the GDP. Such a high level is caused by expenditures connected to the payment of liabilities related to the F-16 fighters purchase – over 5 billion zlotys.
According to the project of the 2015 Defence Budget created by the Ministry of Finance, the defence spending of PLN 38.337 billion (approx. USD 11,9 billion) is planned for the upcoming year. This includes payment of the liabilities related to the F-16 multi-role jet fighters - PLN 5.363 billion. The remaining funds – PLN 33.024 billion – will be used for defence spendings in accordance with the act on restructuring, technical modernization and financing of the Polish Armed Forces (1.95% of this year's GDP).
The capital expenses of PLN 13.775 billion will include PLN 5.363 billion for the F-16 installments. After this amount is deducted, the contribution of the capital expenses to the general value of the funds, purpose of which is to finance the defence needs of the Republic of Poland, will be quite high – over 25 %. This percentage will be compliant with the law in force, which require the capital expenses to constitute at least 20% of the whole defence budget.
Expenditures in the 29th part of the whole budget - “national defence” are to be equivalent to an amount of PLN 38.09 billion, including the assets which are to be used to pay the F-16 installments. Almost 300 million zlotys will be used in the section of National Defence beyond the scope of the Ministry’s of National Defence Budget (Economy Mobilization Programme, Non-Military Defence Preparations and research and development in the field of defence).
Earlier Donald Tusk, the Polish Prime Minister, stated that increase of the level of defence spending up to 2% of GDP will take place in 2016, due to the installments related to the F-16 fighters. No funds were to be used for payments related to the F-16 deal in the period between 2011 and 2014, hence the need of assigning such high amount next year. Last year, the actual rate of defence spending was at the level of 1.76% of GDP, due to the budget amendments. In the period between 2008 and 2012 the Polish MoD did not make use of amounts of PLN 7 billion.