Poland’s real interest rates still too high – Finance Minister
February 20, 2013

Jacek Rostowski
Poland's rate council could take another 100 bps off of the official interest rate with relative impunity to cut into Europe's high in real interest rates, Finance Minister Jacek Rostowski said in the parliament.
"Poland has the highest real interest rates in Europe," Rostowski said. "They are so high that if the Monetary Policy Council reduced them by an entire 1 ppt, Poland would still have the highest real interest rates in Europe."
Some portion of Poland's economic slowdown is to be put down to those high real interest rates, Rostowski said.
Poland's Monetary Policy council has taken 100 bps from official interest rates to 3.75% in four consecutive moves in an easing cycle begun in November 2012.
Poland's GDP growth rate decelerated to 2% in FY 2012 from 4.3% in 2011, preliminary data published by the Central Statistical Office (GUS) showed. The figures suggests a Q4 GDP growth of below 1%, numerous economists said.