In the spotlight: Ewa Balcerowicz

However, the President of the National Bank of Poland, Leszek Balcerowicz, and his wife Ewa certainly thought that if their surname made the papers, it would be with regards to interest rates or monetary policy.

Few expected Ewa Balcerowicz, the president of the Center for Social and Economic Research (CASE), to take her husband's place in the spotlight. Mrs Balcerowicz has become the target of a relentless campaign directed against her husband, who for the people currently ruling in Poland is a favorite hate figure, responsible for unemployment, poverty, the closing of plants after the system change and the seizure of Polish companies by foreign capital. The Banking Commission questioned Ewa Balcerowicz with regards to speculation that donations made by banks to CASE had an effect on the decisions of the Banking Supervision Commission, which is headed by her husband.

Ewa Balcerowicz, who has a PhD in economics and is a member of the Polish Academy of Sciences, is one of the co-founders of CASE, which is a research and advisory center dealing with economic transformation in the CEE region, the Caucasus and Central Asia, as well as the global economy and European integration. She has been the president of the center since 2004. Her husband was a member of the think tank's board until he resigned in 1997 when he became Finance Minister.