With political unrest rising in reaction to a surge in the value of the Swiss franc, Poland’s financial stability committee is set to meet today to “discuss and exchange views” about formulating the country’s foreign exchange strategy. The Polish złoty has skidded by nearly 20 percent against franc, revealed Poland’s finance minister Mateusz Szczurek. The committee includes local bankers and representatives of Poland’s National Bank, the country’s financial supervisory authority and the Bank Guarantee Fund.
CEOs of those commercial banks with the greatest franc exposure will be asked “if they’ll be able to take into account franc’s dropping interest rates,” NBP’s chief Marek Belka said. He called franc-denominated mortgages a “ticking bomb”, and urged lenders to phase them out before lawmakers decide to force loss-inducing swaps.
Polish lenders had PLN 131bn of Swiss-franc mortgages on their books as of the end of November, or 46 percent of all home loans, according to data from the country’s financial-market supervisor.
