WARSAW (Thomson Financial) – Poland’s economy will slow visibly in the first quarter and will expand more slowly in the whole of the year than it did in 2007, central bank governor Slawomir Skrzypek said.

Skrzypek said it was important to maintain “even, slow, but stable” growth after the economy expanded at a rate of 6.5 percent last year, the fastest rate in the decade.
“Already in the first quarter we will start seeing a visible slowdown of our economy, but it would be temporary,” the state newswire PAP quoted Skrzypek as saying in a radio interview.
“But the growth throughout this year will still be lower than in 2007.”
The comments chime in with local finance ministry’s forecast, which see the economy slowing to 5.5 percent growth this year after it grew at almost double the rate seen in the 15 countries sharing the euro in 2007.
Skrzypek, a dove on the 10-member monetary policy council, also said the central bank should pay attention to growing gap between the level of interest rates in Poland and the eurozone.
The central bank last week raised interest rates for the fifth time in less than a year amid growing price pressures and is expected to tighten borrowing costs at least once more to bring inflation to its 2.5 percent target.