RCSS publishes gloomy forecast which expects exports will decease

The Government Center for Strategic Studies (RCSS) forecasts in its report t hat GDP will increase not more than 0.5% during the first half of 2002, and will amount to around 1% for the year as a whole. The analysts from RCSS als o expect that inflation will fall over the next few months. In June it is ex pected to fall to 3.3% from 3.5% in February. The center predicts that the e conomic situation of Poland's main trading partners will deteriorate, which together with an increasingly strong zloty will mean exports will stagnate. The report also stated that unemployment will reach 19% by the end of the ye ar. (Parkiet, p. 1) A.K.