WARSAW (Reuters) – Poland’s Monetary Policy Council (MPC) should keep interest rates stable until March, when new inflation projections and details of fiscal policy will be known, council member Ireneusz Dabrowski was quoted as saying by state-controlled news agency PAP on Thursday.
The National Bank of Poland (NBP) kept interest rates stable in December – with its main interest rate at 5.75% – due to uncertainty about the future course of fiscal and regulatory policies.
In November it had put its easing cycle on hold after slashing the cost of credit by a total of 100 basis points over the previous two months.
“In my opinion, we should wait until March for several reasons.
Firstly, because in March we will have a new inflation projection. … Secondly, we are waiting for the final adoption of the budget,” Dabrowski was quoted as saying by PAP.
He added that the budget will include one important parameter that might impact CPI – wage increases.
Dabrowski also said there is no significant risk of interest rate hikes in the current situation, with the choice being maintaining or cutting rates.
He said that in his opinion the CPI may fall to 3.4%-3.9% in March.
(Reporting by Anna Koper; Editing by Leslie Adler)
