All sectors of Poland’s economy should be free from lockdown restrictions by early June, the development minister has said.

“The third wave of the pandemic is quickly subsiding, and we are facing further decisions on defrosting the economy,” Deputy Prime Minister and Development Minister Jaroslaw Gowin told a Thursday press conference devoted to Poland’s presence at the World Exhibition Expo 2020 in Dubai.

“I hope we will enter June with all sectors of the economy operating,” he added, saying that GDP data for Q1 2021 to be released on Friday are expected to show a 1.5 percent drop, but also noted that in Q4 2020 Poland recorded a 2.7 percent decrease.

“We expect that, unfortunately, due to the third wave (of pandemic – PAP), it will be a negative result, but definitely better than in the fourth quarter of 2020 and all forecasts show that we can count on very rapid growth in the coming quarters,” Gowin said.

He added that conservative forecasts say that the Polish economy will grow by 4-percent by the end of the year while more optimistic forecasts say growth could accelerate to 5 percent in 2021.

The European Commission raised Poland’s 2021 GDP growth forecast to 4 percent from its previous forecast of 3.1 percent of GDP growth.