Poland to be 18th country to raise interest rates this year

Poland is another country where official interest rates have been raised, notes Paweł Majtkowski, an eToro analyst. Apart from Poland, since the beginning of the year, interest rates were raised in 17 economically important countries. The rates were raised by many countries from our part of Europe - the Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania, and Russia. And besides, i.a. Norway, Brazil, Mexico, Korea, and New Zealand.

"This is probably just the beginning of a series of increases around the world," the expert judges.

The NBP reference rate increased from 0.1 percent up to 0.5 percent The hike was a surprise for the market, as most economists believed that the MPC would wait until November with its decision, i.e. publication of the next inflation projection. However, rising inflation, which amounted to 5.8 percent in September, prompted the MPC to make faster decisions.

"It is highly probable that inflation will exceed 6% in October. Therefore, further increases seem very likely soon," Paweł Majtkowski believes.

Banks expect interest rates to rise above 1 percent. Such forecasts are not surprising, as the difference between the level of inflation and interest rates is still 5.3 pp.

(WBJ)