WARSAW--Polish rate-setter Andrzej Rzonca said Friday he hopes
rate-hike discussions take place before economic imbalances appear
in Poland.
In an interview with state news agency PAP, Mr. Rzonca said the
economy is nearly perfectly balanced at the moment with robust
growth and no inflation pressures, but it won't remain so for too
long if monetary policy is too accommodative.
"I would hope for the rate normalization process to begin as
soon as possible," Mr. Rzonca said.
Poland's central bank cut the benchmark interest rate by 0.5
percentage point to 1.5% in March and signalled it is unlikely to
ease monetary policy further, barring a significant strengthening
in the Polish currency.
With the zloty gaining against euro recently, the market has
started pricing in more easing later this year. On Friday one euro
was worth 4.09 zlotys, around 2% less than 4.17 before the rate
council's decision in early March.
Mr. Rzonca, however, said it is a mistake to use monetary policy
to achieve currency targets and he feels no pressure to do so.
Newspaper website: biznes.pap.pl
Write to the Warsaw bureau at djnews.warsaw@dowjones.com