The use municipal bonds in financing regional economic development in Poland

Subject and purpose of work: The article presents an analysis of the use of municipal bonds in financing the development activities of local governments in Poland. Materials and methods: The study uses data from the Ministry of Finance, the European Central Bank, the Central Statistical Office and the CATALYST platform. Results: The results of the research show that the level of using bonds by local governments in Poland is lower than the EU average. Poland's accession to the EU and the inflow of structural funds significantly increased local governments’ interest in the implementation of bonds to fund investments, especially in 2008-2010. Conclusions: A significant part of funds from the issues of municipal bonds was allocated to regional development projects, mainly infrastructure. In 2008-2012 the value of newly issued municipal bonds increased, however, after that the number and value of new issues significantly decreased.