Monetary council member says public deficit to be bigger than planned

Poland's headline public deficit is likely to reach 2.5% - 2.7% of gross domestic product (GDP) this year, exceeding the government forecast of 1.8%, Boguslaw Grabowski, a member of the Monetary Policy Council (RPP) told business daily Parkiet on Friday. The RPP has been highly dubious of the government's ability to control spending and has repeatedly said that fiscal restraint is key to lowering Poland's punishingly high interest rates. In related news, Grabowski was quoted as saying Poland is unlikely to secure the planned zl.18 billion in revenues from privatization this year. „We are almost certain we will not sell as big a stake in Telekomunikacja Polska SA as expected, which is core to 2001 privatization plans,” Grabowski said in an interview for Rzeczpospolita. (Rzeczpospolita, p.1; Reuters)J.K.