Inflation hits post-communist low of 0.9%

Polish consumer inflation fell to a new post-communist low of 0.9% in November as the country's slow recovery failed to ignite any significant price pressures, data showed yesterday. "'(The inflation figure) came bang in line with market expectations," said Gavin Gray, senior emerging markets economist at HSBC Investment Bank in London. "'My suspicion is the central bank is not going to cut rates this week, because we've had four rate cuts in succession. But we do see a cut by 25 basis points in January," he said. The Central Statistical Office (GUS) said that consumer prices fell 0.1% last month, versus a 0.3% increase in October, bringing the headline CPI figure down to 0.9% from October's 1.1%. Low price pressure in the economy stems from low food costs across the region, weak wage pressure due to high unemployment, and a strong zloty. CPI is widely seen remaining around one percent in the coming months. (Reuters, Rzeczpospolita, p. B1) A.C.