Kolodko - Poland needs more money!

Finance Minister Grzegorz Kolodko said yesterday that Poland needs more money in circulation and lower interest rates to reinforce an economic recovery that has already begun. "The Polish economy is now like a dry sponge, which should be filled with...money to stimulate the blood circulation of public finances," Kolodko told public radio in an interview. "If interest rates were lower in banks, this would stimulate a recovery that is already under way," he added, renewing pressure on the Central Bank to ease borrowing costs. Kolodko believes that the National Bank of Poland should cut its main rates by three points from the current 6.5% because year-on-year inflation was just 0.8% in December. He reiterated that lower rates would weaken the zloty and help exporters, rejecting the Central Bank' s argument that the currency's exchange rate is good for exporters. (Reuters) A.K.