Finance Minister expects inflation to be 4% by year end - if all goes well

New Finance Minister Mirosław Gronicki admitted in an interview with PIN radio that he expected inflation to exceed 4% at the end of the year. "There is a chance that inflation will reach a maximum level in July. We can expect inflation of 5% in August but then if the zloty is strong, there is no political turmoil and the price of oil decreases, inflation will slowly decrease," said Gronicki. The Minister stated that he wanted to cooperate closely with the National Bank of Poland and the Monetary Policy Council (RPP) in fighting inflation but refused to comment on the consequences of any RPP decision to increase interest rates, saying only that it does not matter whether such a decision is made in July or August. (Puls Biznesu, p.6; Parkiet, p.7) E.B.