Inflation is on the rise in Poland.
In December, prices were on average 3.4 percent higher than a year ago. Forecasters had expected inflation to be contained to a maximum of 3 percent, but the actual inflation figures now being reached have confounded even the most pessimistic forecasts.
Inflation has now shaken Poland with a bang louder than the New Year’s celebrations, say economists at the state PKO BP bank. Their assessment is that the base rate of inflation has risen from 2.6 percent to 3.2 percent, the highest level in 17 years.
Economists at Santander bank expect it to reach over 4 percent in the first quarter of the year.
Food prices jumped by 1.2 percent in December compared to November, the highest such rise since 2016. While that rise is expected to slow, it is not inconceivable that problems with drought and the African Swine Fever virus in pork production could mean that there will be no such halt in the rise in prices.
