National Bank of Poland
Comparing the Central Bank Interest Rate Paths of the United States, Brazil, U.K., Iceland,Poland and Czech Republic
May 5, 2022
All six of the central banks in this comparative study had interest rate hikes announced either today or yesterday. In none of the cases was the increase the first one of the current cycles. All these tightening cycles represent responses to accelerating inflation caused in large part by external factors like the pandemic, policy responses […] More
Another Polish Interest Rate Hike
April 6, 2022
An increase of the National Bank of Poland’s policy interest rate to 4.5% from 3.5% announced today marks the seventh straight tightening from a pandemic low of 0.1% prior to last October. Such was the biggest incremental move in the current tightening sequence and was twice the size anticipated by analysts. 4.5% represents the highest […] More
Polish Central Bank Interest Rate Lifted to 3.5% from 2.75%
March 8, 2022
Today’s sixth consecutive hike in the National Bank of Poland’s policy interest rate was larger than the previous three 50-basis point increases, but the rate level remains far beneath the latest 9.2% 12-month rate of consumer price inflation and far above the 1.5 – 3.5% corridor that officials associate with price stability. According to a […] More
Poland’s Central Bank Interest Rate Hiked to 2.75% from 2.25%
February 8, 2022
The Monetary Policy Council at the National Bank of Poland announced its fifth rate increase since October when the reference rate was languishing at a mere 0.10%. Most central banks around the world have been switching priorities, putting more emphasis on containing high inflation, or to put a finer point on it, ensuring that medium-term […] More
Polish Central Bank Interest Rate Raised 3 Times by Total of 165 Basis Points in Final Quarter of 2021
December 8, 2021
Following up on hikes of 40 basis points in October and 75 bps in November, officials at the National Bank of Poland lifted the reference interest rate today by 50 bps to 1.75%. In so doing, the entire post-pandemic rate reduction in 2020 from 1.50% at the start of last year has been reversed and […] More
National Bank of Poland Tightens
October 6, 2021
Poland’s is the latest central bank to hike interest rates in the face of above-target inflation. Whereas earlier rate increases announced in New Zealand and Iceland were not unexpected, a 40-basis point policy rate hike to 0.5%, which reverses the last of three cuts in the first half of 2020, had not been forecast. In […] More
Somewhat Weaker Dollar
April 8, 2021
The dollar is trading 0.2% lower against its DXY weighted index and versus the loonie, Swiss franc, sterling, Turkish lira and Mexican peso. Larger drops include losses of 0.6% versus the yen, 0.5% against the kiwi and yuan, and 0.4% vis-a-vis the New Zelanad dollar. No net change against the euro limited the weighted dollar’s […] More
Uncertain Economics, Public Health, and Politics
February 4, 2021
Investors continue to grapple with uncertainty on several planes. Covid: The trend in new cases has slowed but remains well above what was seen in earlier waves of the pandemic. Hospitalizations are down, but two potential super-spreading events loom: the Chinese New Year holiday and Super Bowl Sunday in the United States. Vaccines are being […] More
Poland’s Second 50-Basis Point Central Bank Cut Since March 17th
April 8, 2020
Poland’s central bank reference rate has been halved to 0.50% and henceforth will be surrounded by a zero percent deposit rate and a 1.0% Lombard rate. There had been an initial monetary policy response to Covid-19 on March 17, including a 50-basis point interest rate cut, liquidity injections via repo operations, and a program of […] More
More Fuel for These Stressful Times
April 8, 2020
Finance ministers in the euro area for a second time failed to secure a deal that would coordinate their response against the coronavirus pandemic. They will try again later. The Bank of France revised its forecast of French real GDP growth in the first quarter of 2020 from +0.1% to negative 6%, which would make […] More
