PiS weighs potential NBP chiefs

The ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party is considering seven candidates for the post of president of the National Bank of Poland, Przemysław Gosiewski, a Minister in the Prime Minister's Chancellery, has revealed.

"Law and Justice will decide in two weeks who will be our candidate for president of the National Bank of Poland. There are seven names on the list of candidates, including professor Grzelońska," Gosiewski said, declining to mention any other names.

Urszula Grzelońska, a 66-year-old professor at the Warsaw School of Economics, has so far been the only candidate publicly mooted by PiS. Her appointment is not considered inevitable and her comments on the merits of euro adoption have been questioned by some.

Officials could be holding off on a decision because two potential candidates, Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz and Jerzy Kropiwnicki, both backed by PiS, were running in local government elections.

Zbigniew Hockuba, an economics professor at Warsaw University, and Sławomir Skrzypek, deputy chief executive of Poland's biggest bank, PKO Bank Polski, may also be in the running, as they are close associates of the Kaczyńskis. Two sources familiar with the situation told Reuters that Andrzej Sławiński, a member of the central bank's monetary policy council and viewed as the best candidate for the job by financial markets, was out of the race. (Reuters)