Road projects have dominated the local governments’ investment structure. In 2021, they accounted for a 33.2 % share in all investments, according to a report by Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego (BGK) on the financial situation of local government.

A survey conducted by BGK’s Research and Analysis Department shows that local government units attach the greatest importance to the socio-economic aspects of sustainable development. Areas of their direct responsibility, such as the development of infrastructure and educational services, are most often indicated as the most important.

Road projects have dominated the structure of local government investments. In 2021, they amounted to PLN 15.9 billion, which accounted for a one-third share of all investments. The value of road investments was higher than the expenditure on water and sewage infrastructure (PLN 5.8 billion), tourism, sport and culture (PLN 5.7 billion) and public transport (PLN 3.9 billion).

Despite the dominant position of road spending in local government budgets, road investments are most often considered insufficient – this was indicated by 77% of local governments. Smaller investment projects can be observed in such areas as waste management (45 %), heating (40 %) and public transport (39 %).

The report also shows that the share of property expenditures in total expenditures of local self-government units (JST) in the first half of 2022 was 11%, significantly higher than a year earlier. The year-on-year dynamics of investment expenditure was 26.3%.

“According to our survey, as many as 93% of JSTs are expecting an increase in capital expenditure in 2022. This is, among other things, a result of the Strategic Investment Programme. The value of settled proceedings for the implementation of investments with the support of this programme amounted to PLN 17.5 billion in September this year”, said Mateusz Walewski, director of BGK’s Research and Analysis Department.

Arkadiusz Słomczyński