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Press conference after the September Meeting
of the Monetary Policy Council
Date: 04-09-2013
Following the September meeting, the MPC confirmed its intention to maintain the interest rates unchanged until the end of 2013. The Council also adopted the “Monetary Policy Guidelines for 2014”. The conference was attended by President of Narodowy Bank Polski – Prof. Marek Belka, Prof. Andrzej Kaźmierczak and Dr. Andrzej Rzońca.
At its meeting on 3 and 4 September 2013, the Monetary Policy Council decided to keep the interest rates unchanged. The reference rate will remain at 2.50% in annual terms. The press release presented at the conference reads, among others, that “in the Council's assessment interest rates should be kept unchanged at least until the end of 2013”.
While answering questions concerning the quoted sentence, prof. Marek Belka explained that the Council’s neutral approach will be maintained until the end of December, should there be no extraordinary circumstances calling for reactions on the side of monetary policy. The NBP President also said that his moderate optimism about the prospects of the Polish economy has recently risen, even though the growth rate is still expected to be at a relatively low level.
The Council adopted – as it does every September – the monetary policy guidelines for next year. “The Monetary Policy Guidelines for 2014 do not provide for any major changes to our strategy. Neither the inflation target, nor the way in which it is determined are about to change. When it comes to new elements, we accept the need to be more flexible about the implementation of the direct inflation target policy. In addition, we stress the meaning of macroprudential policy” – underlined NBP President Marek Belka at the conference.
Asked about the proposals for changes to the functioning of the Open Pension Funds, Prof. Marek Belka emphasized that in the opinion of Narodowy Bank Polski the stability of the financial system and capital market as well as treasury securities should be taken into account while choosing specific solutions.