Controversy erupts as Monetary Council refuses to lower interest rates

Politicians of the government coalition were infuriated yesterday after the Monetary Policy Council (RPP) failed to lower interest rates despite shrinking inflation and the threat of recession. Analysts and investors had expected the RPP's decision. RPP president Leszek Balcerowicz explained at yesterday's press conference that a decrease in inflation in November may have been temporary and that the Council preferred to wait until the effects of earlier cuts became visible. The Polish Peasants Party (PSL) has started gathering signatures to introduce a law that would add new members to the RPP and impose additional tasks on the Council. "Coalition clubs intend to submit in the Sejm on Friday a modification to the law governing the National Bank of Poland (NBP), extending the objectives and composition of the RPP," announced Marek Sawicki of the PSL. President Aleksander Kwasniewski has criticized the pressure being put on the RPP. "Let the Council act independently," he said. (Rzeczpospolita, p. A1, B1) M.T.