Rate cuts in Poland cannot be completely ruled out this year, central banker Cezary Kochalski told ISBnews in comments published on Friday, but he added it was too early to talk about them now.

Although it has not yet officially ended its tightening cycle, most economists do not expect the National Bank of Poland (NBP) to hike the cost of credit further and attention has turned to when it will start to ease policy.

"I cannot say that interest rate cuts are absolutely excluded this year," he was quoted as saying. "The data and information available so far did not give grounds to discuss them. It would be too early."

Inflation in Poland was 17.2% year-on-year in January according to the statistics office, up from the previous month but lower than analysts had forecast.

Kochalski told ISBnews that he expected inflation to return to single digits in the third quarter.

"The third quarter in my opinion... will be a period when a single-digit reading will appear, while visible disinflation processes will start in Q2," he said.

"Inflation in the first quarter of this year will not exceed 20%... the result will rather be around 19%," he said, adding that he did not expect CPI to return to the target range of 1.5-3.5% before 2025. (Reporting by Alan Charlish; Editing by Alex Richardson and Toby Chopra)


Reuters