An increasing number of Polish companies declare having financial reserves for unforeseen situations, according to the latest survey by BIG InfoMonitor and BIK. A financial cushion is now held by 68% of firms – an 8 percentage point increase compared to 2023. However, the funds often remain insufficient, while at the same time the value of unpaid liabilities in the economy continues to rise.
Corporate Financial Cushions
The survey shows that:
- 33% of firms have reserves sufficient to maintain operations for six months.
- 29% declare reserves for 2–3 months.
- 23% have no savings at all – an improvement compared to 2023, when one in three companies reported this situation.
The service sector (78% of firms) and industry (74%) are the best prepared for unexpected challenges. Construction fares the worst, with only 48% of companies having any financial reserves, followed by transport at 53%.
“The growing number of companies with reserves reflects rising risk awareness and the need to maintain liquidity. This is the result of experiences from the pandemic and the period of high inflation. However, the absence of savings in 23% of companies still means high vulnerability to crises,” emphasized Dr. Waldemar Rogowski, Chief Analyst at BIG InfoMonitor.
Corporate Debt – Fewer Debtors, But Larger Arrears
Although the number of unreliable payers is declining, the total value of arrears is increasing. After the first half of 2025:
- Company arrears reached PLN 45.3 billion.
- The number of delinquent payers stood at 318,000, down by 5,662 compared to a year earlier.
- The average debt per company rose to PLN 142,300, up from PLN 137,300 a year earlier.
The sectors with the largest repayment issues are:
- Trade – PLN 9.1 billion in arrears.
- Industry – PLN 7.4 billion.
- Construction – PLN 5.8 billion.
- Transport and warehousing – PLN 3.3 billion.
- Real estate – PLN 2.8 billion.
Arrears also exceeded PLN 2 billion in the HoReCa sector, while finance and insurance recorded PLN 1 billion.
“Although some companies are disappearing from the debtor register, those that remain face increasingly severe financial problems. This raises the risk of a domino effect, where the insolvency of one company leads to difficulties for others,” noted Paweł Szarkowski, President of BIG InfoMonitor.
Economy Supports Stability, But Risks Remain
The slower pace of debt growth is supported by favorable economic conditions – GDP growth above 3%, falling inflation, and a 0.5 percentage point interest rate cut over the past 12 months. Nevertheless, certain sectors remain particularly exposed to liquidity risks. In transport and warehousing, as many as 8.6% of companies are unreliable payers, with similarly high ratios observed in mining, water and sewage, and the HoReCa industry.
Source: CEO.com.pl
