Currency report: Little change for złoty

The stability came despite a raft of news, including a much-anticipated interest-rate announcement from the NBP's Monetary Policy Council and a rating upgrade by Standard & Poor's. On Thursday, the ratings agency upgraded Poland's foreign and local currency debt rating by one notch from BBB+ to A-, citing strong growth prospects. The złoty gained on the news, but markets settled soon thereafter.

"The upgrade reflects Poland's strong and balanced growth prospects, which have remained decoupled from the country's deteriorating political environment," the agency's analyst for Poland, Kai Stukenbrock said in a statement.

"Poland's upgrade caused a bit of a flurry, but most markets have already reacted to that," said Debbie Orgill, emerging markets economist at ABN AMRO in London.

The Monetary Policy Council, as expected, kept interest rates unchanged. Poland's benchmark interest rate remains at the historic low of 4.00 percent. However, the council's accompanying statement, as well as statements made by council members both before and after the announcement, indicated that the central bank is getting closer to raising rates. Most analysts expect a rate rise in April or May. (Reuters)