– I sign budgetto protect the stability of the state and I am sending it to Constitutional Tribunal — to protect Poland's future, said Karol Nawrocki. The president could sign the budget law or refer it to the Constitutional Tribunal; he couldn't veto it.
— This budget is evidence of a deep crisis of credibility, effectiveness and efficiency of the current government. This is a budget that shows helpless capitulation to the challenges Poland faces. This is a budget of unfulfilled promises from the election campaign and disappointed expectations of Poles, the president added.
As the president explained, he does not want the lack of signature on the budget to “become an alibi for the government's inaction” and “another false narrative about blocking money.”
The rest of the article below the video:
The President referred the budget law to the Constitutional Tribunal as a follow-up procedure. What does it mean?
On Friday, January 9, the Sejm finally completed work on the budget act for 2026. The act was signed by the president. The President of the Republic of Poland cannot veto it. However, it may refer all or part of it to the Constitutional Tribunal.
The president can choose from two modes: preventive (before signing) or consequential (after signing). Karol Nawrocki referred the bill to the Constitutional Tribunal for post-control review. This means that the budget will be implemented in the version adopted by the Sejm.
Andrzej Duda did something similar in January 2025 – he signed the budget act for 2025 and at the same time referred some of the footnotes to the Constitutional Tribunal in the follow-up inspection mode.
Karol Nawrocki: I expect changes from the government
— I expect the government to make changes to the budget that will ensure stable financing of health care, said the president. He also assessed that there is a decline in the financing of science, and that culture and sports are also insufficiently financed.
— The state budget addressed to me also does not implement security guarantees. Despite many declarations, it does not guarantee 5%. GDP for defense, the president emphasized.
This year's budget plans to spend more than PLN 200 billion on national defense, which is equivalent 4.81 percent GDP. PLN 247.8 billion is to be allocated to health care, which is 6.81 percent GDP.
Minister on the president's move regarding the budget: political theater
As the Minister of Finance, Andrzej Domański, assessed, referring the budget bill to the Constitutional Tribunal is “political theater without real consequences.”
“The president signed the budget. A budget of investments and record expenditure on defense. The rest, including referring the bill to the Constitutional Tribunal, is political theater without real consequences. We continue to work,” Domański said in an entry on the X website.
Budget Act 2026
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Adam Ziemienowicz / PAP / photos
The budget act for this year assumes that state expenditure will amount to PLN 918.9 billion, a the budget deficit will amount to no more than PLN 271.7 billion.
State budget revenues are planned at PLN 647.2 billion. VAT revenues are expected to amount to PLN 341.5 billion, the budget is to receive PLN 103.3 billion from excise duty, PLN 80.4 billion from corporate income tax (CIT) and PLN 32 billion from personal income tax (PIT).
The ratio of state public debt to GDP will amount to 53.8%, remaining below the precautionary threshold of 55%. specified in the Public Finance Act.
As we wrote in Business Insider Polskain the 2026 budget, large cuts affected the budget plans of the Institute of National Remembrance, but also of the Supreme Audit Office and the National Labor Inspectorate. The slight increase in the budget of the Ombudsman is surprising. More in this text.
