RPP keeps interest rates unchanged

The National Bank of Poland’s Monetary Policy Council (RPP) decided to keep interest rates unchanged at its sitting on January 7-8, 2014. The move was widely expected by economists. The reference interest rate remains at 2.50 percent, a historic low. The RPP cut the rate to that level in July, ending a monetary policy easing cycle. “The Council maintains its assessment that NBP interest rates should be kept unchanged at least until the end of the first half of 2014.” the RPP said in a press release after the sitting. NBP President Marek Belka said that the RPP has not observed any important changes since its last sitting. “We saw no reason for change, not even speaking of the level of interest rates, but in rhetoric. The announcement is practically a restatement of the one issued last month,” he said. “RPP member Andrzej Kaźmierczak, said that inflation may approach 2 percent in June (1.8 percent to be precise) amid rising core inflation and economic growth accelerating to almost 4 percent. Well, such circumstances could make at least some RPP members think about interest rate hikes. The question is whether this would be majority, as Marek Belka stressed that such GDP growth forecast (almost 4 percent) is the result of Kaźmierczak’s intuition, not a hint regarding the new NBP projections,” wrote BZ WBK in an e-mail statement