Belka threatens to withdraw finance minister candidacy if rates are not cut

Presidential economic adviser Marek Belka has threatened to drop plans to become finance minister after the September elections, unless the central bank cuts interest rates further to revive growth. Belka said he would not attempt to lead the country out of its budget woes as finance minister in the likely new leftist cabinet, unless the Monetary Policy Council (RPP) lowers rates, preferably by four or five points. "My decision to pull out of the race is imminent," Belka wrote in an article published in yesterday's edition of the influential weekly Polityka. Belka served as finance minister in 1997 in a Democratic Left Alliance (SLD) government. In his Polityka article Belka wrote that rate cuts are key to reviving economic growth, which is necessary to avert a looming crisis in the public finances and improve Poland's chances of fast European Union (EU) membership. "Today, there is no possibility whatsoever of rekindling growth without a radical cut in interest rates, even by four or five points," Belka wrote. (Reuters)