Dług publiczny/en

PUBLIC DEBT – in the broadest sense, it is the sum of liabilities (debts) of public entities, i.e. public finance sector units (or public sector entities) to domestic (domestic p.d.), foreign creditors (foreign p.d.), after eliminating the mutual obligations of these entities. The main reason for the emergence of the p.d. is the accumulation of budget deficits in subsequent years, for financing of which securities are issued (e.g., bonds, vouchers, bills of exchange) or loans and credits are taken. In accordance with the Public Finance Act p.d. (state p.d.) covers public finance sector liabilities under the following titles: 1. issued securities for cash receivables; 2. loans and credits taken; 3. accepted deposits; 4. due liabilities: a. resulting from separate acts and final court decisions or final administrative decisions, b. considered indisputable by the competent public finance sector unit being a debtor. The state p.d. is calculated as the nominal value of liabilities of public finance sector units after elimination of mutual obligations among units of this sector. The main elements of p.d. are: State Treasury’s debt, special-purpose funds’ debt, and local government’s debt. The state p.d. does not cover all liabilities of public finance sector units, but only due liabilities. In the case of p.d. determined in accordance with the EU methodology, due and non-due liabilities of the public sector units are not taken into account. According to the Constitution p.d. in Poland cannot exceed 3/5 of GDP [ T. Strąk ].

Literature: K. Nizioł, Państwowy dług publiczny. Aspekty normatywne, Szczecin 2013 ■ S. Owsiak, Finanse publiczne. Współczesne ujęcie, Warszawa 2017 ■ T. Uryszek, Dług skarbu państwa jako źródło finansowania deficytu budżetowego, Warszawa 2010.