The Polish central bank’s interest-rate hike cycle is not over yet, the bank’s head, Adam Glapinski, has said.
Glapinski told a press conference that the bank was waiting for January/February inflation figures before deciding about interest rates.
In a recent hike cycle, the National Bank of Poland’s Monetary Policy Council raised interest rates 11 times but suspended rate increases after a 25-basis-point hike in September 2022, leaving the reference rate in deep negative territory, at 6.75%.
Glapinski added that it was hard to predict the inflation situation during the first two months of the year, but added that most forecasts had predicted a rise. Glapinski said he hoped the rise would not be up to 20%.
Quoting official inflation figures for December 2022, Glapinski said they were lower than expected.
Poland’s Central Statistical Office (GUS) on December 5 said consumer prices in December 2022 were 16.6% higher YoY and 0.2% MoM. Earlier predictions set the figures at respectively 17.3% and 0.8%. (PAP/Business World Magazine)
