NBP president warns of continued high interest rates to push inflation down

down At the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank conference in Prague National Bank of Poland (NBP) president Hanna Gronkiewicz-Waltz, asserted that interest rates in Poland would remain high. She ensured that the NBP would do its best to cause inflation to drop to 7% in 2001. Inflation at the end of the year will be around 9% although increasing fuel and grain prices would put pressure on consumption prices. Gronkiewicz-Waltz added that inflation still remains a touchy and difficult issue due to the influence of dollar denominated imports especially imported oil. At the same time she expressed her satisfaction at next year's budget proposal which envisages reducing the deficit by 0.4% to 1.6% of GDP. (Gazeta Wyborcza, page 21)