Chase Manhattan doubts Finance Minister Bauc will keep lid on spending

Analysts from U.S. investment bank Chase Manhattan International Ltd. are skeptical about new Finance Minister Jaroslaw Bauc's promises of limiting the budget deficit to 1.5% of GDP next year. They believe Bauc will not continue the policies of his predecessor Leszek Balcerowicz and are afraid he will not be strong enough to resist strong pressure from Solidarity Election Action (AWS) politicians to loosen the purse-strings in his pre-election budget. However, Chase Manhattan has positively evaluated the restrictive monetary policies of the National Bank of Poland president Hanna Gronkiewicz-Waltz.(Puls Biznesu, page 3) T.J.