ADVERTISEMENT

Investing

Polish Inflation Eases With Rate Cuts Expected in Early 2025

Shoppers inside the Galeria Wilenska shopping mall in Warsaw, Poland, on Thursday, Dec. 21, 2023. The central bank halted interest rate cuts after the Oct. 15 parliamentary election unexpectedly brought the pro-European Union opposition to power, along with their promises to boost budget spending. (Damian Lema?ski/Bloomberg)

(Bloomberg) -- Polish consumer price growth decelerated for the first time in eight months, boding well for an interest rate cut in early 2025.

Headline inflation eased to 4.6% in November from a year earlier, compared with 5% in October, according to data released on Friday. 

Poland’s private consumption, a key growth driver, has faltered in the third quarter, raising doubts over future economic growth and strengthening the case for quicker interest rate cuts, although central bankers remain cautious due to sticky inflation. 

The National Bank of Poland has kept the benchmark rate unchanged at 5.75% since October 2023. Policymakers have flagged that the Monetary Policy Council may start discussing rate reductions in March. 

The drop in inflation dynamics is “only temporary” and the indicator will rise again in December, as earlier forecast by central bankers, according to economists at Santander Bank Polska SA, led by Piotr Bielski.

 

--With assistance from Barbara Sladkowska.

©2024 Bloomberg L.P.