Get on with it and put interest rates up so things are clear, says ex-NBP deputy govnor

Today the Monetary Policy Council (RPP) will meet to discuss a potential increase in interest rates, after announcing a month earlier that it was looking in the direction of soon toughening financial policy. Market analysts no longer speculate whether an increase in the rates will happen, but rather when it will happen. During the past month many negative forces have gained strength, namely inflation, political instability, and the falling value of złoty. "The sooner interest rates are increased the better, as the costs of limiting inflation will be lower," said Andrzej Bartkowski, Pekao SA chief economist, former deputy president of the National Bank of Poland. Most market analysts expect rates to be increased next month. (Gazeta Wyborcza, p. 19; Rzeczpospolita, p. B7) A.K.