Polish c.banker Tyrowicz still sees no reason to cut interest rates

WARSAW (Reuters) – Polish central banker Joanna Tyrowicz still does not see any grounds for interest rate cuts given the continued overshoot of the inflation target, she told a private radio station Tok FM on Thursday.

The National Bank of Poland has kept its main interest rate on hold at 5.75% since October 2023 and central bank governor Adam Glapinski said last week that it was far too early to talk about easing policy.

Annual inflation in December came in slightly below a flash reading at 4.7%, but still well outside the central bank’s target range of between 1.5% and 3.5%.

“I don’t see any grounds for cuts. … We are not cutting rates because we are not at the target. We are not bringing inflation to the target,” said Tyrowicz, considered one of the hawks on the Monetary Policy Council (MPC).

Tyrowicz has been its only MPC member to support raising interest rates, according to the most recently published voting records.

She also said that any economic decisions of the new U.S. administration should not have a direct impact on Poland’s economic situation.

“Very important for our economy is the improvement of the situation of our global trading partners, especially the European ones,” she said.

“If they suffer any negative consequences of these changes, this may have some negative indirect implications for our economy.”