Parliament starts to discuss amendments to the law governing the central ban k

Last night the sejm began its debate over planned changes to regulations gov erning the (RPP). Under the amendment to the law on the central bank, propos ed by the Polish Peasants Party (PSL) and Labor Union (UP), the Council woul d be forced to take into consideration not just the threat of inflation, but also economic growth and the level of unemployment when setting interest rat es. Furthermore, the bill seeks to enlarge the RPP by increasing the number of members from 10 to 16. The additional members would be chosen by the pres ident, the sejm and the senate. The fate of the amendments remain uncertain. The latest news from the Central Statistical Office (GUS) on the economy for April did not reveal any positive results, with exports still in decline, wh ich the government puts down due to the strength of the zloty. This can only mean that the tension between the RPP and government is set to continue. Mea nwhile the IMF resident representative, Cyrus Sassanpour, told Rzeczpospolit a daily, "The current foreign exchange rate policy is advantageous for Polan d" (Gazeta Wyborcza, p. 22; Rzeczpospolita, p. B1; Reuters) M.K.