NBP: GDP at 3.5%, unemployment to drop below 8% in 2015-2017

Poland's GDP growth pace in years 2015-2017 will stand at 3.5 percent on average. The unemployment rate will decline to 8.2 percent this year and to 7.9 percent in 2016, a recent National Bank of Poland (NBP) report indicated. The NBP estimated that increasing domestic consumption and growth of investments will boost the Polish economy. "As there has been a gradual and stable improvement of the economic conditions in the euro zone, economic growth will be based on increasing consumption expenditures and investments of the domestic private sector," the report reads. Recovery of savings and emigration may be among the factors influencing GDP growth negatively, the NBP informed. The amount of employed persons will increase by 0.7 percent this year, by 0.2 percent in 2016 and by 0.1 percent in 2017, according to the report. The forecast used data as of February 17, therefore it did not take into account the lowering of the interest rate by 0.50 pp.