No end to interest rate hikes in Poland yet, says c.banker Kotecki

It is still too early to be talking about an end to interest rate hikes in Poland, rate setter Ludwik Kotecki said on Monday, after the head of the central bank said last week that Poland was approaching the end of its monetary policy tightening cycle.

“(The issue with) inflation has not been resolved, so we cant be talking about an end to (interest rate) hikes today,” Kotecki told private broadcaster TVN24.

Poland is closer to the end of its monetary policy tightening cycle than it is to the beginning, central bank governor Adam Glapinski said last week after the bank raised its main rate by 75 basis points to 6.00%.

Polands fiscal policy is neutralising and reversing the effect of interest rate hikes and should also be tightened to counter inflation, Kotecki said in a separate interview for Business Insider website.

Fiscal policy should be tightened here and now, we need fiscal consolidation this and next year. If this doesn‘t happen inflation will continue rising,’ he said

Kotecki doesnt expect inflation in 2023 to be significantly lower than this year, and cautioned that without fiscal consolidation it could top 20 percent. Glapinski had said he expected inflation to fall to around 6% in 2023.

(Reporting by Anna Wlodarczak-Semczuk and Marek Strzelecki; Editing by Tom Hogue, Kirstne Donovan)