Strength of the zloty provokes Finance Minister Belka to urge reduction

Finance Minister Marek Belka has spoken out in support of the view that the zloty is over-valued. "In my opinion, a zloty rate of 4.25 to the dollar wou ld be satisfactory for exporters, and at the same time realistic," he said. Analysts quoted by Prawo i Gospodarka concur that the Polish currency is cur rently over-valued by between 10% and 20%. However, there is no agreement as to how the zloty has become so strong. The most frequently-cited reason is t he long-held expectation of further interest rate cuts by the Monetary Polic y Council (RPP). (Prawo i Gospodarka, p. 1) P.J.