Governor Glapinski Extends Olive Branch To Incoming Government

NBP Governor Adam Glapinski ended his press conference by giving reassurances that he stands ready to collaborate with the next government and its Finance Minister, regardless of which political parties form the administration. He cited his record from before he took the helm of the central bank, noting that he had always tried to perform his duties responsibly and refrained from criticising his predecessor Marek Belka while sitting on the Monetary Policy Council.

• This comes on the heels of an interview with Belka, Poland's former Prime Minister and current MEP aligned with the pro-EU coalition, who said that he does not see legal grounds for prosecuting Glapinski. He noted that there are reasons to criticise the central bank and its Governor, but they are not sufficient to put Glapinski on trial.
• Governor Glapinski's press conference today was considerably more concise than his earlier briefings. The official stuck with the main themes of the MPC statement, adding some colour on forward guidance and declaring openness to work with the next government.
• The presser seems to represent an attempt by Glapinski to de-escalate his well-documented tensions with the incoming coalition, whose representatives made campaign pledges to put him on trial. As flagged in our earlier bullets, there are considerable political, economic and legal barriers to such action, despite pressure from the electorate to hold Glapinski to account for the cost-of-living crisis.
• Note that ECB President Christine Lagarde has recently penned a letter seen as a sign of support for Glapinski, while money.pl reported that the ECB gave an informal assurance that it would join a potential complaint to the EU's top court should the incoming coalition decide to prosecute the NBP Governor. These signals, alongside a moderation in the rhetoric of pro-EU coalition members, suggest that putting Glapinski on trial seems relatively unlikely.