NBP MPC Press Release - 2021-04-07
Central bank: nbp | Type: decision | Date: 2021-04-07

Warsaw, 7 April 2021 
Information from the meeting of the Monetary Policy 
Council held on 7 April 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 structural o pen market 
operations. The timing and scale of the conducted measures will d epend on the 
market conditions. Furthermore, NBP will also offer bill discount credit aimed at 
refinancing loans granted to enterprises by banks. 
The recent period saw a worsening of epidemic developments in many countries. This 
translated int o tightening of the pandemic-related restrictions that a re negatively 
affecting economic activity , mainly in the service sector. At the same time, in many 
economies activity in industry continues to increase. Prices o f many commodities, 
including oil, are curren tly significantly higher than a year ago. Such developments in 
commodity prices are exerting an upward pressure o n global inflation. However, due to 
still weak economic conditions and uncertainty about the economic outlook, major 
central banks are keeping their interest rates low and are conducting asset purchases and 
signal maintaining loose monetary policy also in the future. 
Incoming data on economi c development s in Poland indicate that industrial 
production continued to grow in February 2021 and sentiment in that sector improved as 
well. At the same time, a f all in construction and assembly output deepened and the 
annual change in retail sales – despite somewhat more optimistic consumers’ sentiment – 
remained negative. This was accompanied by rising average em ployment in the 
enterprise sector , in month-on-month terms, and slowing average annual wage growth 
in this sector. 
According to the Statistics Poland flash estimate, inflation in March 2021 increased to 
3.2% y/y . Increase in inflation was driven primarily by a further rise in fuel prices 
stemming from growing oil prices in the international markets. At the same time, the 
annual CPI has been pushed up by electricity prices that rose at the beginning of 2021 
and by the earlier increases of waste disposal charges – thus by factors independent from 
the domestic monetary policy. The growing costs of running business amidst pandemic, 
 
 
including higher transport charges and temporary disruptions in supply chain s, also 
continue to add to inflation. 
Statistical base e ffects related to fuel prices, together with the expecte d additional 
increases in waste disposal charges, will probably translate in to a further rise in inflation 
in the coming months. At the same time, a progress in the vaccination programme and a 
gradual pacing out of the pandemic will ease the impact of supply-side factors – that are 
currently raising companies’ cost – on inflation. Inflation will also be curbed b y a lower 
wage pressure compared to the period before the pandemic. 
Similarly as many other countries, Polan d witnessed a worsening of epidemic 
situation in March and a tightening of the pandemic-related restrictions. Such 
developments negatively affect economic activity and sentiments in some sectors, 
although high -frequency indicators show that the im pact of the pandemic on the 
economy has been significantly weaker than before. 
Available data indicate t hat the coming quarters will see a re covery of economic 
activity, although the scale and pace of the recovery ar e uncertain. The further course of 
the pandemic and its impact on the economic situation in Poland and abroad continue to 
be the main source of uncertainty. The economic po licy measures, including the easing 
of NBP’s monetary policy introduced last year and the expected recovery in the global 
economy, will have a positive imp act on the domestic economic situation. The pace of 
the economic recovery in Poland will also depend on further developments of the zloty 
exchange rate. 
NBP will continue to purchase government securities and govern ment-guaranteed 
debt securities on the secondary market a s part of the structural open market operations. 
These operations are aimed at chan ging the long-term liquidity structure in the banking 
sector, ensuring the liquidity in the secondary markets for the purchased securities and 
enhancing the impact of the NBP interest rate cuts on the economy, i.e. strengthening the 
monetary policy transmi ssion mechanism. I n order to strengthen the impact of NBP’s 
monetary policy easing on the economy, NBP may also intervene in the foreign exchange 
market. The timing and scal e of the measures taken by NBP will depend on the market 
conditions. Furthermore, NBP will also continue to offer bill dis count credit aimed at 
refinancing loans granted to enterprises by banks. 
NBP’s moneta ry policy miti gates the negative economic impact of the pandemic, 
supports economic activity and stabilises in flation at the le vel consistent with the NBP’s 
inflation target in the medium term. Due to its positive impact on the financial situation 
of debtors, it is also conducive to the strengthening of financial system stability.