Poland

Poland is set to receive more than 5 billion euros ($5.5 billion) in EU funds after the European Commission gave a positive assessment Tuesday of the country's revised recovery plan that includes green reforms and investments, the Associated Press reported. The 5.1 billion euros pre-financing is part of the bloc's REPowerEU program aimed at helping the 27 EU nations recover from the energy crisis that followed Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last year, and reduce their dependance to Russian fossil fuels.

Poland’s central bank left interest rates unchanged, unexpectedly halting its easing cycle in the first decision since the country’s pro-European opposition secured a majority in last month’s election. The zloty gained, Bloomberg News reported. Governor Adam Glapinski and the rate-setting Monetary Policy Council kept the main rate at 5.75%, defying a majority of economists surveyed by Bloomberg, who predicted a quarter-point reduction. The move comes as declining inflation remains above target — and the opposition under Donald Tusk prepare to take power after eight years of nationalist rule.

Poland’s central bank lowered its key interest rate Wednesday, pointing to a drop in inflation despite a still-high rate of 8.2% last month, raising concerns about the cut being a political move, the Associated Press reported. The National Bank of Poland cut its benchmark rate a quarter of a percentage point to 5.75%. Analysts were expecting it after annual inflation dropped last month from 10.1% in August. Inflation was over 18% earlier this year. It was the second rate cut since Sept. 9, when the central bank surprisingly slashed rates by three-quarters of a point.

The steep rout in eastern European currencies is raising speculation among market strategists that policymakers will have to slow their plans to ease monetary policy, Bloomberg News reported. The Polish currency dropped 0.7% against the euro, extending its decline to 4% in the past week after a bigger-than-expected rate cut roiled markets. With Hungary already months into an easing cycle and the Czech Republic weighing when it should embark on its own, the three countries led losses across emerging markets.

The governor of Poland's central bank said Thursday that its large interest rate cut was justified despite high inflation because prices are stabilizing and the era of high inflation is ending, the Associated Press reported. Adam Glapinski spoke a day after the bank's monetary council announced that it was cutting interest rates by 75 basis points, a much larger reduction than had been expected.

Poland is close to overcoming inflation pressures and has done so without overreacting in a way that could have damaged the economy for years, said ruling party leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski, Bloomberg News reported. Polish policy has been aimed at protecting the nation’s labor market, Kaczynski said in Janow Lubelski in the nation’s east on Saturday. An overresponse to the sudden price increases following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 could have suppressed the nation’s growth for as long as six years, he added.

Polish banks suffered a potentially costly setback in the long-running saga over Swiss Franc mortgages after an adviser to the European Union’s top court said they can’t pass on extra fees to customers whose interest payments were deemed unfair, Bloomberg News reported. In cases where contested mortgage deals are voided by local courts, lenders can’t claim payments beyond reimbursements of the loan principal, Advocate General Anthony Collins of the EU Court of Justice said in a non-binding opinion Thursday.

Polish banks are sounding increasingly sanguine about a looming European Union court ruling that the country’s financial regulator once warned may spell a full-blown crisis for the industry, Bloomberg News reported. In the latest chapter of the saga centered around $17 billion of mainly Swiss franc-denominated loans, EU judges are set to rule whether banks can sue clients, who got their mortgage contracts canceled in courts — a way for the industry to recover some losses and deter future litigation.

Poland’s central bank left interest rates on hold for a fifth month as signs of a global disinflation strengthened the case for a dovish majority of policy makers, Bloomberg News reported. The Monetary Policy Council held its benchmark rate at 6.75%, matching the expectations of all 32 economists surveyed by Bloomberg. Governor Adam Glapinski has argued in the last few months against additional rate increases, warning that a deeper economic slowdown could trigger job cuts, which the monetary authority wants to avoid.

Polish rate-setter Ludwik Kotecki said on Wednesday that he sees scope for some small interest rates hikes this year but doesn't believe the Monetary Policy Council will decide to raise them, Reuters reported. "I would still see room for small interest rate hikes this year (...) but it probably won't happen. I just hope no one comes up with the idea of ​​lowering interest rates," Kotecki told website gazeta.pl.