Poland says presidential vetoes cost budget $2.1bn

Poland's government said on Friday that President Karol Nawrocki's repeated vetoes of its proposed reforms had cost the state budget at least eight billion zlotys, or $2.1 billion.

Finance Minister Andrzej Domanski made the claim while outlining the 2027 budget bill. He accused Nawrocki of acting in an "extremely irresponsible" manner.

Nawrocki, a nationalist president, took office in 2025. Relations with Prime Minister Donald Tusk's pro-European government have been strained, and Nawrocki has vetoed 45 bills passed by parliament in the past 13 months.

The president's spokesman described the government's criticism as a "clumsy manipulation".

Poland's constitution gives the head of state the right to veto parliamentary bills. A veto can be overridden only if the biggest party in parliament has the required two-thirds majority.

Credit ratings agency Fitch last week confirmed its A- rating for Polish debt, indicating high credit quality and low expected default risk. But Fitch warned that non-cooperative and sometimes adversarial relations between the government and president, including a record number of vetoes, limited Poland's ability to implement economic policies and reforms.

The government's 2027 proposals are based on a budget deficit of about 6.4 percent of GDP, growth of 3.0 percent, inflation of 2.8 percent and year-end unemployment of 6.0 percent. Poland also plans to spend 4.51 percent of GDP, nearly 200 billion zlotys, on defence.