Poland has enough cash to deal with coronavirus crisis and a recession is unlikely, said Adam Glapiński, the head of Poland’s Central Bank (NBP).
“There is no way that any bank could get into difficulties with the right liquidity. We will do a repo transaction with them straight away,” said Glapińsk.
“We have plenty of cash,” he added.
According to Glapiński, a recession in Poland was unlikely, although he expects GDP growth to slow significantly to 1.6 percent this year in a worst-case scenario.
Government estimates that did not take into consideration the economic meltdown triggered by the virus saw growth hitting 3.7 percent this year with average annual inflation at 2.5 percent.
The NBP announced Tuesday that it had cut its main lending rate to an historic low of one percent in a bid to mitigate the effects of the virus.
The Polish government also announced a €47 billion financial package to shore up Poland’s economy.
Contactless payment transaction limit doubled in Poland
Visa and Mastercard have both doubled the limit on a single contactless transaction in an effort to halt the spread of coronavirus. That limit has risen from 50 złotys to 100 złotys, the equivalent of €11.50 to €23.
The changes will go into effect starting this week, with Visa cards raising the limit on March 19 and Mastercard on March 20.
The move came in response to a call by the state’s financial supervisory body to the central bank to apply higher limits on transactions for contactless cards.
The finance minister, Tadeusz Kościński, then asked the credit card industry to raise the limit.
The contactless payments are as secure as any other card transaction. The increased limit will likely be welcomed by the Polish public, especially at a time when handling cash is risky for both staff and customers.
Users can also avoid using touch terminals with contactless payments, which should improve trust for consumers worried about contracting the coroanvirus.
