"At the moment, there is no cause for alarm," Adam Glapiński told the British financial newspaper in an interview published on Sunday.
He also said that there was "no sign" of property bubbles fuelled by low interest rates, adding that Poland’s banks were well-capitalized and that the real estate market was not overheating, the FT reported.
'We expect headline inflation to fall'
Glapiński argued the data was not currently “worrying," saying that inflation was partly driven by transient and external factors such as base effects, and fuel prices.
Currently the second-highest in the European Union, Polish year-on-year inflation hit 4.7 percent in May, before easing to 4.4 percent in June, the Financial Times noted in an article penned by its Central Europe correspondent James Shotter.
“When we subtract from headline inflation the impact of regulatory and supply-side factors we get inflation close to 2.5 percent, which is the midpoint of our inflation target,” Glapiński told the Financial Times.
“So at the moment, there is no cause for alarm, especially as we also expect headline inflation to fall,” he added.
'We will act immediately as soon as it is necessary'
Glapiński also said during the interview that the National Bank of Poland (NBP) would watch “very carefully” for signs that rising wages were driving up prices as the economy accelerates after pandemic lockdowns.
“If we see that there is a tendency that in a few quarters this rise in prices could be driven by these demand-side factors, then we will act. When will it happen? It’s hard to say precisely, but rather not earlier than in the autumn of this year. Or maybe only halfway through next year,” he said.
He added: “Our approach is similar to that of the Federal Reserve, or the ECB [European Central Bank]: we are waiting for the economic recovery to become certain and solid, and then we will observe whether there is a risk of a rise in inflation. And we certainly won’t hesitate: we will act immediately as soon as it is necessary.”
Poland’s central bank in March raised its inflation forecasts for the country, saying it expects the consumer price index to hit 3.1 percent this year, followed by 2.8 percent in 2022.
(gs/pk)
Source: ft.com, PAP