Poland’s Central Bank Cuts Benchmark Rate to 2%

The National Bank of Poland on Wednesday cut its benchmark interest rate by half a percentage point to 2%–more than expected–and cut two other interest rates, with consumer price inflation near zero and tepid economic growth.

Most analysts polled by The Wall Street Journal had expected a cut of 25 basis points to 2.25%.

A reduction to borrowing costs was widely expected after the bank said last month it could cut rates amid signs that the economy wasn’t growing as fast as expected while the Russian-Ukrainian conflict increases uncertainties.

Apart from cutting the main rate, the rates panel also cut its Lombard rate by one percentage point to 3% and the rediscount rate by half a percentage point to 2.25%. It left the deposit rate unchanged at 1%.

The bank is set to release a statement and hold a press conference to discuss the reasons behind its decision at 1400 GMT.

via MarketWatch

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Alfonso Esparza

Alfonso Esparza

Senior Currency Analyst at Market Pulse
Alfonso Esparza specializes in macro forex strategies for North American and major currency pairs. Upon joining OANDA in 2007, Alfonso Esparza established the MarketPulseFX blog and he has since written extensively about central banks and global economic and political trends. Alfonso has also worked as a professional currency trader focused on North America and emerging markets. He has been published by The MarketWatch, Reuters, the Wall Street Journal and The Globe and Mail, and he also appears regularly as a guest commentator on networks including Bloomberg and BNN. He holds a finance degree from the Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education (ITESM) and an MBA with a specialization on financial engineering and marketing from the University of Toronto.
Alfonso Esparza