Central bank bites back

Leszek Balcerowicz has turned to the parliament to protect the central bank from changes to its charter proposed by populist political party Self-defense (SO).

The National Bank of Poland's (NBP) Governor has asked the Speaker of the Sejm, Marek Jurek, to investigate whether the draft bill is legal.

The bill broadens the bank's remit to include responsibility for growth as well as price stability, which the NBP says is unconstitutional and would give politicians more power to press for looser monetary policy.

"The Speaker has received an opinion from the parliament's legal department, which shows that broadening the central bank's goal beyond fighting inflation is against European law," the Speaker's assistant, Szymon Ruman, said. "The Speaker will pass the draft law to the legislative committee to check whether it is compatible with the EU treaty."

The proposed changes have shaken financial markets. There are fears that the new charter could jeopardize the bank's independence and bring it under political control. On the one hand, the ruling Law and Justice party says it is committed to maintaining the bank's independence, but Ministers within the government have recently pushed for lower interest rates. "Depriving the bank of its care for price stability ... and making it the equal of other goals is a fundamental change which would undermine the effective base of monetary policy, aimed at price stability," the bank said in a statement. "This change gives the option of exercising politically motivated pressure on the central bank in order to loosen monetary policy."

Last week, Balcerowicz had hit out at right-wing politicians in Poland for using "Marxist rhetoric." (Reuters)