Krzysztof Pietraszkiewicz, president of the Polish Banks Association (Związek Banków Polskich), warns that the tendency of politicians to use problems created by the surging Swiss franc to their advantage is threatening the stability of the entire banking sector. Moreover, Pietraszkiewicz said that a recent proposal to restructure franc-denominated mortgages will generate serious losses. The draft has already caused panic among Warsaw Stock Exchange investors.
The sell-off dragged down share prices of WSE-listed lenders by 20 percent. According to the most recent report from Poland’s Financial Supervision Authority (KNF), once implemented, the proposed changes could cost Polish lenders PLN 22bn. The government has been pushing lenders to help cover the costs involved with converting franc-denominated mortgages into Polish złoty loans ever since the Swiss National Bank unpegged its currency from the euro.
