Narodowy Bank Polski held its reference rate at 5.75% at its January 2024 meeting, extending a pause, begun in November 2023, in an easing cycle that had seen the Monetary Policy Council deliver two reductions in the second half of the preceding year.
The two cuts delivered in September and October 2023 — of 75 and 25 basis points respectively — had taken the reference rate down from its cyclical peak. The January decision was the council's third consecutive hold since the October cut.
CORE INFLATION ABOVE 6%
The decision to keep the rate at 5.75% came as uncertainty over government measures, including the future of the energy-price freeze and the zero VAT rate on food, clouded the inflation outlook; core inflation, though falling, remained above 6%. Core inflation strips out the more volatile components of the consumer-price index, including food and energy.
GLAPINSKI SAYS DECISIONS WILL DEPEND ON DATA
NBP Governor Adam Glapinski said at his press conference on 10 January that the council was not in any easing cycle and would take decisions as data arrived.
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