Poland Plans Major Reforms to Aid Economy

Poland will soon make “quite revolutionary changes” in its economy, including replacing all top economic officials, as the country adjusts to reforms under way in the Soviet Union, the Polish government said Monday.

Speaking with reporters at the Polish Embassy after arriving for a weeklong visit to Sweden, spokesman Jerzy Urban said the reforms might include the creation of a Western-style stock exchange, “if it proves necessary or suitable for the benefit of the Polish economy.”

But he said the reforms would not include recognition of trade unions.

His remarks appeared to represent a move away from nearly complete state ownership of the principal means of industrial production, but Urban stressed that Poland has no intention of eliminating socialism.

Prosperity vs. Poverty

“To the contrary, we believe we are consolidating socialism in Poland. Socialism should distribute prosperity rather than poverty,” he said.

Poland is in deep economic trouble, with a stagnating state-run industry, and it is unable to repay a runaway, $32-billion hard-currency debt to the West.

The new policies might mean less government control of the economy, Urban said.

“In a matter of a few weeks from now, we shall be declaring quite revolutionary changes in our economy,” he said. “These changes will include the replacement of the whole leadership of the Polish economy and replacement of methods of managing the economy.

“The whole program has not yet been published, but it will definitely mean stepping out from the way of the centrally subsidized industry,” Urban said.

‘Competitive Balance’

“We would like the government to cease managing enterprises and instead conduct economic policy on the basis of economic rules. New enterprises should be established freely on the basis of competitive balance.”

Urban was quoted by the Swedish national news agency TT as saying that the new measures could be difficult to introduce.

“The socialist system has created habits that can be hard to change; for instance, that there should be no differences in salary levels and that the salary should cover the basic needs,” he was quoted as saying.

The plans call for a 15% reduction in state subsidies this year “to make the unprofitable outdated branches of industry go bankrupt,” Urban said.

He said that the government should in the future stop managing enterprises and concentrate on conducting economic policy instead. “We want to destroy all the corsets to economic growth,” he stressed.

‘Mixed Companies’ Studied

Among measures being discussed by a state commission in the way of economic reforms are “suggestions of introducing mixed companies of both state and private capital,” he said.

“Also, various shares would be issued that could be purchased by private individuals, thus becoming co-owners of state enterprises,” Urban said. “But it will not be possible for individuals to invest in the vodka industry, which is monopolized by the state.”

He added in reply to a question: “Plans to start a classic stock market like London’s have not been included in existing projects, but if there is a demand for it and if it proves necessary or suitable for the good of the Polish economy, we would not refrain from it.”

‘No Doctrinaire Barriers’

There are “no doctrinaire barriers standing in the way of working out new motors of economic change,” Urban emphasized. The essence of the reforms will be to “base the Polish economy on the rational rules of the market.”

Urban acknowledged that the Polish government is reacting to the reform campaign of Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev.

“The Soviet transformation is convergent with what is going on in Poland,” he said.

But he cautioned there is no place for independent trade unions in Poland. In 1981, the government of Wojciech Jaruzelski crushed Solidarity, the first independent trade union movement in the East Bloc.

Solidarity leaders have called for strikes to protest recent price increases, but Urban cautioned that “the worse the reception of price boosts is, the more difficult it will be in the future to undertake far-reaching changes in the economy.”