Poland Keeps Interest Rates Unchanged Amid Accelerating Inflation

The Monetary Policy Council of Poland (RPP) at its meeting on October 7 kept interest rates unchanged. The key rate of the National Bank of Poland remained at 3.75% per annum.

The decision matched analysts' expectations. The rate has been at 3.75% since March 2026, when the RPP lowered it by 0.25 percentage points. Since then, the regulator has refrained from further monetary easing.

The October meeting took place against the backdrop of renewed acceleration of inflation. According to preliminary data from the Central Statistical Office of Poland, in September consumer prices rose by 4% year-on-year after 3.4% in August.

Compared to August, prices increased by as much as 0.7%. Thus, inflation again exceeded the upper limit of the range set around the National Bank of Poland's target. The inflation target itself is 2.5% with an allowable deviation of one percentage point in either direction.

As recently as this summer, the situation looked different: slowing price growth allowed the market to discuss the possibility of further reduction in the cost of borrowing. However, the renewed rise in inflation reduced the space for the regulator to ease policy.

For borrowers, keeping the rate unchanged means there is no new RPP decision that would directly change the benchmark for the cost of money in the Polish economy. At the same time, accelerating inflation makes the prospects for future rate cuts less certain.

As Business Insider Polska reports, before the meeting analysts mostly expected the rate to be kept at the current level.