Ministers satisfied over outcome of interest policy meeting with central ban k

Ministers left yesterday's meeting with National Bank of Poland (NBP) offici als satisfied they had achieved progress in persuading the Monetary Policy C ouncil (RPP) of the necessity for further interest rates cuts. After the mee ting Labor Minister Jerzy Hausner commented, "The government explained its e xpectations for monetary policy, stressing that this means the kind of suppo rt enabling the government to realize its economic program." The RPP did not make any comment, other than NBP governor Leszek Balcerowicz's statement iss ued prior to the meeting in which he said he had "not come to negotiate on t he level of interest rates." According to government spokesman Michal Tober, the meeting confirmed that the government is responsible for economic policy and the central bank for monetary policy. Chief analyst at Pekao SA Jacek Wi sniewski suggested the four-hour meeting had confirmed that the central bank had won. (Rzeczpospolita, pp. A1, A2, A3) M.T.