'Better late than never' says finance minister after rate cut
PR dla Zagranicy
Peter Gentle
11.03.2013 09:50
Poland's finance minister Jacek Rostowski has welcomed last week's half percentage point interest rate cut by the Monetary Policy Council (MPC) but wishes the rate-cutting cycle began earlier.
Jacek Rostowski: photo - PAP/Paweł Supernak
“Personally I hope that after a short pause, maybe one month, this policy will continue," Rostowski told the RMF FM radio station on Monday morning after the MPC surprised analysts with a 0.50 bps interest rates cut last Wednesday.
The cut of half a percentage point followed four months of quarter bps cuts.
Minister Rostowski has been critical of the MPC, however, saying that as Poland's economy has been showing signs of a slowdown for over half a year, the rate-setting body should have reacted sooner and more decisively.
“I think that our economy would be stronger today, with unemployment lower, maybe even quite significantly lower, But, as the saying goes, better late than never,” he said. (pg)