An optimistic beginning for banks
Even though in January the banking climate indicator Pengab reached only 35.8 points - a drop of 3.2 points as compared to December 2005 - the figure still represents the best start of the year in the past six years, according to the Association of Polish Banks (ZBP) and pollster Pentor.
The president of ZBP, Krzysztof Pietraszkiewicz, said that the association is expecting the rate of loan growth to reach 15 percent in 2006, with mortgages constituting the usual 60 percent of overall loans granted.
"The tempo of economic growth and technological progress both favor banking-sector development. It is worth noting that Poles' use of internet banking on a regular basis is becoming more and more popular," Pietraszkiewicz said.
Eugeniusz miłowski from Pentor stressed that over half of the bankers questioned expect the sector to perform even better in 2006. Some 49 percent of bankers noticed an overall improvement in their standing last year, and only three percent complained that their results were worse than in previous years.
Among the factors exerting an adverse influence on the sector, bankers named the high unemployment rate, competition between lenders as well as the recent change of government.
