Polish interest rates should be higher central banker says

Poland's interest rates should increase above market expectations owing to the latest macroeconomic data, Adam Glapiński, the governor of the National Bank of Poland, has told the Bloomberg agency.

According to Bloomberg, Glapiński will try to make the case for extending the rate hike cycle before members of the central bank's rate-setting body, the Monetary Policy Council (RPP).

In December 2021, Glapiński said that Poland's interest rates may grow to 3 or even 4 percent, but his Bloomberg comments could suggest this level may not be enough.

Glapiński recently came under fire owing to his previous statements throughout most of 2021 that inflation was under control, despite the fact that Poland's CPI readings were among the highest in Europe since the start of the year.

Critics accuse him of acting too late and letting inflation spin out of control to as much as 8.6 percent in December.

Poland's interest rates had been at a record-low level of 0.10 percent since the first half of 2020 owing to the coronavirus pandemic, but the RPP only started to reverse the low-rate policy in October. But by that time inflation had already managed to approach 7 percent.

At its last meeting in early January, the RPP raised Poland's main interest rate for the fourth time since October, to 2.25 percent.

The next RPP meeting is scheduled for February 8.