Interest rates cut to record low

photo - sxc.hu

The move has come as a surprise for economists, who were not expecting the cuts to be so far-reaching and eyebrows have been raised as to the asymmetric nature of the cuts.

Economist at Raiffeisen Polbank, Michał Burek told reporter John Beauchamp that the decision was "quite surprising", although the lowering of the lombard rate by as much as one percentage point means lower interest on bank consumer loans.

But while banks may now lower their rates, they may end up hiking fees, Michał Burek says. "[The cuts] will have an adverse influence on banks' profit margins, and banks may offset this by increasing fees, for example."