Polish president vetoes pension cuts for armed forces

The president of Poland, Aleksander Kwasniewski, has vetoed one of the budget deficit cutting measures planned by the centre-right coalition.

He refused to sign a bill which would have reduced pensions for the armed services, police and other public officials.

Correspondents say the proposed pensions are more than twice the national average, and the government had hoped to save over one hundred million dollars on the 1998 budget by cutting them to levels paid to other workers.

But President Kwasniewski said the bill set a dangerous precedent by removing pension indexation without consulting the people affected.

It is not thought likely the government would be able to overturn the veto because it does not have the necessary three fifths majority in the lower house of the Polish parliament.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service