From rations to G20's doorstep: Poland savours economic 'miracle'

MANY Poles scoffed in 1980 when Lech Walesa, leader of the nascent Solidarity union, promised that Poland would become “a second Japan” - yet the country now finds itself primed to join the G20 club of major economies.

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SCENES in an open air market in Warsaw, where cultivators sell their products directly to consumers.

(AFP)

Since the fall of communism 35 years ago, Poland has transformed itself from a command economy notorious for rationed goods and empty store shelves to one of the engines of European growth.

With a GDP of around $1 trillion (R16 trillion), Poland now has the 20th largest economy in the world, surpassing those of Sweden, Switzerland or Taiwan.

When adjusted for purchasing power, its per capita GDP will exceed Japan's this year and reach 80% of the European average, according to the IMF and Eurostat.

“For my generation, it’s a huge achievement; for my parents’ generation, it’s a miracle,” Finance Minister Andrzej Domanski said recently.

This year the Polish economy is widely expected to surpass the government’s 3.4% growth target, making it one of the best performers in the EU, and the jobless rate is down to just over three percent.

That performance has gotten the attention of Washington, which has invited Warsaw to attend the G20 summit it is hosting in Miami next December, after excluding South Africa over a diplomatic spat.