Polish GDP growth in Q2 likely exceeded 3pct y/y
July 15, 2014

Janusz Piechocinski
Poland likely sported Q2 GDP growth of over 3% year on year despite negative effects of the situation in Ukraine and Russia, and might be heading for a result close to 3.5% for the FY 2014, deputy PM and Economy Minister Janusz Piechocinski told reporters on Monday.
"It should be above 3%," Piechocinski said of his estimate of Q2 GDP growth.
"One should remember not only about destabilization of the Ukrainian economy but also about deterioration of sentiment in Russian economy, depreciation of the ruble, decrease of availability of foreign currencies, wiping out of FX reserves from Russia on a hitherto unknown scale, uncertainty and investor flight," he said of factors affecting Q2 performance.
Despite the headwinds, Piechocinski expects 2014 to be an "exceptionally good" year for Poland.
"If we realize our goals and intentions in an ambitious way we will achieve much more than in the budget forecast, and growth should be closer to 3.5%," he said.
Poland built its 2014 budget on 2.5% GDP growth but raised its forecast to 3.3% in the April convergence program update.