Rating agencies positive about Poland's long-term economic outlook

Despite the slower economic growth and the public finance crisis, foreign rating agencies remain optimistic about the long-term strength and potential of the Polish economy, with Standard & Poor's awarding it BBB+, Moody's Baa1, and Fitch BBB+. "We don't expect any changes in Poland's rating soon," said James McCormack from Fitch. The long-term performance of Poland's banks is also assessed as good and stable. Current fluctuations in the business climate, however, may affect some of them. While Pekao S.A., for instance, maintains good profitability, BPH and PBK are suffering from high merger costs. (Prawo i Gospodarka, pp. 1, 2) M.K.