Polish central bank and financial watchdog to merge?
PR dla Zagranicy
Roberto Galea
15.03.2017 18:01
The National Bank of Poland and the KNF financial watchdog may merge, a move that could help Swiss-franc mortgage holders in the country, central banker Adam Glapiński has said.
Polnische Zentralbank NBP. Photo: Wikimedia Commons
Głapiński said that the lower house of parliament is working on a draft bill for the merger, adding that the solution could help Polish families which took out mortgages in foreign currencies, including Swiss francs.
“A group of MPs have already started work on the bill, and at this point it is not in my hands or the KNF’s, but that of the regulator,” Głapiński said.
He added that the matter is “not an urgent one”, but once implemented “would strengthen the regulatory system in Poland”.
A bill to help holders of Swiss-franc mortgages in Poland was one of the election pledges of Polish President Andrzej Duda.
Hundreds of thousands of Polish families took out mortgages denominated in foreign currencies up until around 2010. Later, the removal of a fixed exchange rate against the euro by the Swiss central bank meant that monthly installments ballooned almost overnight.
After years of paying back monthly installments on their loans, many still have a higher sum to repay than the original value of the mortgages. (rg/pk)