NBP confirms that bank's obligatory reserves are to be lowered

Yesterday's meeting of government representatives and the National Bank of Poland (NBP) eased the tense relations between the two institutions. Economy and Labor Minister Jerzy Hausner said after the meeting that the government plans to work with the NBP to coordinate the strategy of Poland's entry into the EMU, managing the foreign debt and its policy towards the banking sector. Recently there were some disagreements about the final date of euro zone entry, which the NBP envisages as early as 2007. The NBP and the Monetary Policy Council (RPP) also plan to agree on the pace of lowering obligatory reserves held by bank's, which at present amount to 4.5% while the EU average is 2%. Recently the NBP Deputy Chairman Andrzej Bratkowski, told the Polish Press Agency that the Monetary Policy Council might decide to decrease it later this year. (Rzeczpospolita, p. B1; www.onet.pl) M.M.