Minister uses patriotism to encourage the public to buy foreign currencies

Banks, enterprises and the public did not react to Finance Minister Kolodko's appeal for them to buy foreign currencies in order to weaken the zloty. "Whoever has the chance to buy dollars or euros, let him or her do so now, since they will not become any cheaper than they are at present. It is a great opportunity to improve your situation and at the same time lower the rate of the zloty," said Kolodko. Nevertheless, investors ignored the minister's appeal. Politicians have been continually trying to convince the National Bank of Poland to intervene and to weaken the zloty in order to protect exporters. However, the Monetary Policy Council quoted the example of the Czech Republic where such action was not only expensive but also failed to bring long-term positive results. (Puls Biznesu, p. 13) A.C.