Duda encourages Swiss, Polish banks to work together

Polish president Andrzej Duda met with his Swiss counterpart, Johann Schneider-Ammann, on Monday in order to attempt to alleviate some of the pressure put on homeowners in Poland whose mortgages were denominated in Swiss francs. “I requested that (we) forge a closer relationship between the National Bank of Poland and the Swiss National Bank so that the question of lines of credit be more open,” Duda said, while on a three-day visit to Switzerland. Payments became a problem for many Polish citizens who held their mortgages in Swiss francs when the franc’s value rose dramatically. Between 2011 and 2015, it appreciated by approximately 20 percent against both the euro and the złoty. A bill has been proposed to aid those homeowners and is currently before the Polish Parliament. Schneider-Ammann said during the meeting that he was open to the idea, although the Swiss National Bank is an independent institution. The franc has held reasonably steady, in comparison to the złoty, since mid-2015. One Swiss franc was trading at PLN 4.13 on Monday.