NBP MPC Press Release - 2021-02-03
Central bank: nbp | Type: decision | Date: 2021-02-03

Warsaw, 3 February 2021 
Information from the meeting of the Monetary Policy 
Council held on 3 February 2021 
The Council decided to keep the NBP interest rates unchanged: 
 
• reference rate at 0.10%; 
• lombard rate at 0.50%; 
• deposit rate at 0.00%; 
• rediscount rate at 0.11%; 
• discount rate at 0.12%. 
 
NBP will continue to purchase government securities and government-guaranteed 
debt securities on the secondary market as part of the structu ral open market 
operations. The timing and scale of the conducted measures w ill depend on the 
market conditions. Furthermore, NBP will also offer bill discount credit aimed at 
refinancing loans granted to enterprises by banks. 
 
As COVID-19 infections increased and the sanitary restrictions were tightened again , 
the global recovery slowed down in 2020 Q4. According to preliminary data, GDP fell in 
the eur o area in that period. In January 2021 – faced with the risk of another wave o f 
infections – some European countries ext ended or tightened the existing pandemic 
restrictions. As a result, the services sector continues to see a downturn amid a relatively 
better si tuation in industry. Inflation in the global economy remains low. The major 
central banks are keeping interest rates low and conducting asset purchases. 
Growing concerns about the inability to swiftly halt the pandemic despite the start of 
the vaccinations has negatively affected global financial market sentiment over the recent 
past. At the same t ime, expectations about the additional fiscal stimulus in the United 
States have supported asset prices in th e financial markets. Since the beginning of the 
year, the prices of some commodities, including oil, have increased in the global markets. 
In Poland, t he ri se in the number of COVID-19 infections and the tightening of the 
pandemic restrictions in 2020 Q 4 had a negative impact on economic activity in that 
period, in particular in some parts of the service sector. December saw an increase in the 
growth rate of construction and assembly production and in industrial production , 
including in exporting sectors. The current estimates, taking into account the preliminary 
estimate of GDP in 2020, indicate that 2020 Q4 saw another decline in GDP, although 
considerably smaller tha n that in 2020 Q2. The economic do wnturn was driven , in 
particular, by lower consumption with investment remaining weaker than a year before. 
The labour market data for December point to average employment in the enterprise 
 
 
sector still lower than a year ago amid rising annual growth of average wages in th is 
sector. At the same time, inflation at the end of 2020 declined to 2.4% y/y. 
It can be exp ected that following the fall in GDP i n 2020, economic activity will 
increase in 2021, al though the scale of the recovery will mainly depend on the 
epidemiological situation and the related restrictions. The further course of the pandemic 
and its impact on the economic situation in Poland and abroad remain the main sources 
of uncertainty for the economic outlook in Poland. 
The economic policy measures, includ ing the easi ng of NBP’s moneta ry policy, will 
have a positive impact on the economic situation. However, growth in economic activity 
may b e limited by the heightened uncertainty an d the wea ker sentiment of economic 
agents than before the pandemic, which wi ll result in a significant slo wdown in 
investment growth. The pace of economic recovery may also be reduced by the lack of a 
visible and m ore durable zloty exchange rate adjustment to the g lobal pandemic shock 
and to the monetary policy easing introduced by NBP. 
NBP w ill continue to pu rchase government securities and government -guaranteed 
debt securities on the secondary market as part of the structural open market operations. 
These operations are aimed at changing the long -term liquidity structure in the b anking 
sector, ensuring the li quidity in the secondary markets for the purcha sed securities and 
enhancing the impact of the NBP interest rate cuts on the economy, i.e. strengthening the 
monetary policy transmission mechanism. In ord er to strengthen the imp act of NBP’s 
monetary policy easing on the economy, NBP may also intervene in the foreign exchange 
market. The timing and scale of the mea sures taken by NBP will depend on the mark et 
conditions. Furthermore, NBP will also continue to offer bill discoun t credit ai med a t 
refinancing loans granted to enterprises by banks. 
NBP’s monetary polic y mitigate s the negative economic impact of the pande mic, 
supports economic activity and stabil ises infl ation at the level consistent with NBP’s 
medium-term inflation target. Due to i ts positive impact on the fi nancial situation of 
debtors, it is also conducive to the strengthening of financial system stability.