“Inflation could rise to 25% in February. I repeat: 25 percent!” – Ryszard Petru predicted on November 3, 2022, almost exactly a year ago, in an interview with “Gazeta Wyborcza”. What came of these predictions? On October 13, that was 8.2 percent, in the latest data (for October 2023) it is already 6.5 percent. And for the month indicated by the elected Member of Parliament it was 18.2 percent.
How did the opposition play with inflation?
Ryszard Petru returned to the Sejm, although not from Nowoczesna, but from the Third Way – although it is possible that both sides will create the government together. Let us not forget that he entered politics as an expert in economics and as a ‘student’ of Prof. Leszek Balcerowicz.
Last year, and also this year, one of the problems most frequently raised by the opposition was high inflation. The government launched several types of aid programs and explained that the international situation has a significant impact on the level of inflation – and let us remind you that in 2022, when we have not yet experienced the coronavirus pandemic and its negative consequences in many areas tackled the functioning of the state, Putin’s Russia attacked Ukraine. The opposition blamed the PiS government for the entire situation and imagined worst-case scenarios regarding the future of the Polish economy. However, this did not stop her from making quite generous promises, such as pay increases for teachers and employees of the widely understood public sector.
Peter: 25 percent I repeat: 25 percent!
Ryszard Petru joined the worst-case scenario “bidding” in 2022. At the time he was probably not planning to return to politics and was active in the Institute of Liberal Thought.
On November 3, 2022, “Gazeta Wyborcza” published an interview in which Petru predicted that inflation in February 2023 would be… 25%.
We have the problem I warned about: we’re out of money. The tsunami is already building up and about to overflow. Next year will be very difficult economically. That’s what I’ve always thought: PiS will be determined by the economy, not by issues of values
– he said then.
Without the anti-inflation shield, inflation could reach 25% in February. I repeat: 25 percent! And soon, in a few months
– he argued.
The government is likely no longer able to secure funding for this anti-inflation shield, leaving us with a very difficult winter ahead. But next year will also be a difficult year
– Ryszard Petru then threatened.
Isn’t Petru far from Balcerowicz?
As you can see, Peter’s predictions did not quite come true. Although inflation in February 2023 was still higher than in the period when the economist gave an interview to ‘GW’ (October 2022: 17.9%, February 2023: 18.2%), but later it started to decline slowly . Currently it is 6.5 percent. (October 2023).
Will Petru’s statement be verified (preferably by Dorota Wysocka-Schnepf herself, who conducted the interview for “GW” last year?)
Why doesn’t the neoliberal media verify the neoliberals’ lies about the economy? Let me think about it.
But to give Ryszard Petru justice, he wasn’t the only one in the wrong. This often happened even with his master – Leszek Balcerowicz.
These illiterate people shine in the Libyan media
Interestingly, Balcerowicz warned about planned changes in OFE as early as 2013, during the PO government. He then said that Poland was threatened by the “Hungarian scenario”. Viktor Orbán, the Prime Minister of Hungary, decided to take a similar step.
In 2015, when there were real chances that Law and Justice would take power in Poland, the former president of the National Bank of Poland threatened a ‘Greek scenario’. In 2021, the ‘Turkish scenario’ was already predicted, the economists’ report of July 7, 2022 already mentioned the ‘Romanian scenario’, but in Balcerowicz’s statement a few weeks later the ‘Greek scenario’ came back into favor.
READ ALSO: The latest inflation data is available! Central Bureau of Statistics: In October this was 6.5%. on an annual basis. What do analysts predict?
It is of course known that economic experts are not fortune tellers. However, it is bad that they use their knowledge in this area to scare the Poles instead of taking positive action. This is especially visible in the statements of liberal economists.
aja/Wyborcza.pl, X
Source: wPolityce