Adam Glapiński, head of the National Bank of Poland (NBP), was speaking after the Polish central bank's rate-setting Monetary Policy Council left interest rates intact a day earlier.
Glapiński told the media that Poland’s interest rates were likely to stay put until the end of this year amid market uncertainty, state news agency PAP reported.
He said at a news conference in Warsaw that most members of the rate-setting panel "have been talking off the record, or even directly in the media, about the middle of the year" as a potential date for the first rate cut since late last year.
"If inflation stabilises at around 5 to 5.5 percent, or even 4.5 percent—and our projections indicate that inflation will decrease in the coming quarters—then, of course, some members of the Monetary Policy Council will be inclined to consider this," he said.
"We are waiting impatiently for the moment when the first interest rate cuts will become possible," Glapiński told reporters.
"I hope it could be possible after March, or even as early as March," he added.
Glapiński also said on Thursday that inflation could return to the central bank's target of 2.5 percent, plus or minus 1 percentage point, by 2026.
The Monetary Policy Council left interest rates unchanged on Wednesday, keeping the reference rate at 5.75 percent.
The panel earlier slashed key interest rates by a combined 100 basis points, amid signs of subsiding inflation.
In 2021 and 2022, the Monetary Policy Council delivered a string of rate hikes in an effort to contain surging consumer prices.
Inflation in Poland stood at 4.3 percent last month, up from 4.2 percent in July, according to a flash estimate by the country’s statistics office.
(gs)
Source: IAR