Polish stocks count $50 billion cost a year after Duda win - Bloomberg

Bloomberg said on Thursday that the benchmark WIG20 Index has suffered the worst losses worldwide this quarter among 93 gauges tracked by Bloomberg in dollar terms, exacerbating a rout that’s wiped $50 billion off Poland’s market capitalization since Andrzej Duda triumphed in the first round of voting on May 10 last year, NN Investment Partners and Blackfriars Asset Management Ltd. told Bloomberg the declines will continue unless the Law & Justice government changes course. “Poland is a clear short," said Nathan Griffiths, a senior emerging-market equities manager. The reality is that the WIG20 is worth a lot less today than a year ago simply because of the Law & Justice party." According to Bloomberg, the slide in stock values is testament to the deterioration of confidence in a market once regarded as a haven among developing economies. The Law & Justice party from which Duda hails took over the government in October, giving it free rein to impose a bank tax that’s set to erode industry profits, while also adopting measures to encroach on institutions like the country’s top court, prompting Poland’s first-ever credit downgrade in January.