Hawkish comments from Poland’s central bank governor, following ambiguous data from the last minutes. The Bank kept its reference rate on hold at 3.5 per cent, as expected, but comments from Marek Belka suggest a rate rise is on the horizon.
Commenting on what he said was a decreased risk of strong capital inflows into Poland in the event of an interest rate rise, Reuters reports the governor telling a news conference: “This changes slightly the risk balance in favour of rate hikes or in favour of the start of a tightening cycle.” Mr Belka also reiterated his view that the Polish zloty has strong potential to appreciate. Read more
The zloty is too high, even though recent intervention by the central bank has helped to weaken the currency to levels last seen a month ago. So says Polish deputy finance minister Ludwik Kotecki.
Chris Giles
Michael Steen
Robin Harding
Ralph Atkins
Claire Jones
