Two Polish central bankers say rate cut could come this year
11:05 am Tuesday, July 18th, 2023
WARSAW (Reuters) – Poland could cut interest rates this year, two central bankers were quoted as saying on Tuesday, fuelling expectations that a decrease in the cost of credit could be just around the corner.
National Bank of Poland (NBP) Governor Adam Glapinski earlier this month said that a rate cut could come as soon as September if inflation has fallen to single digits.
Monetary Policy Council (MPC) member Gabriela Maslowska echoed this view in an interview with state-run news agency PAP published on Tuesday, saying that a cut could come in September or October, before the central bank’s next inflation projections are published in November.
“If for example in September or October the rate setters judge that incoming data is compelling enough, that it’s worth making decision about a first cut ahead of the projection, then I believe it would be comprehensible,” she was quoted as saying.
Fellow central banker Henryk Wnorowski meanwhile told Catholic broadcaster Radio Maryja on Tuesday that policy could be loosened in 2023 as inflation was falling fast.
“One should not rule out a scenario that this calendar year the MPC will assess that there are sufficient grounds to make the first cut,” he said.
The NBP has kept its main interest rate on hold at 6.75% since September.
Inflation in Poland was 11.5% in June, statistics office data showed, down from a peak of 18.4% in February.
(Reporting by Alan Charlish; Editing by Bernadette Baum and Conor Humphries)
