WARSAW (Reuters) – The Polish central bank does not have ample room to increase interest rates amid an expected economic slowdown, central banker Cezary Kochalski said on Tuesday.
Poland’s inflation would remain high in coming months and the first quarter of 2023 but would not exceed 20%, Kochalski told TVN24 television in an interview.
Poland has plenty of room for interest rate rises, and a hike by 100 basis points might be needed in November, fellow central banker Joanna Tyrowicz was quoted as saying earlier on Tuesday.
“I’m far from this opinion, it seems there’s no room for that,” Kochalski said commenting on Tyrowicz words.
“Further radical interest rate hikes would bring inflation down but at a very high cost for the society,” he said.
In October the National Bank of Poland (NBP) kept its main interest rate on hold at 6.75%, opting to leave borrowing costs unchanged despite soaring inflation, as it warned of an approaching economic slowdown.
(Reporting by Marek Strzelecki; Editing by Chris Reese and Sandra Maler)