Press Release No. 10/245

Press Release: IMF Welcomes Poland’s Interest in a New Arrangement Under the Flexible Credit Line

June 15, 2010

Mr. John Lipsky, First Deputy Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), issued the following statement today:

“I welcome the Polish authorities’ interest in a new one-year precautionary arrangement under the IMF’s Flexible Credit Line (FCL) for an amount of SDR 13.69 billion (about US$20.1 billion, or 1000 percent of quota). The IMF’s management intends to seek approval by the Fund’s Executive Board of the request in early July.

“Poland weathered the global crisis well, being the only economy in the European Union to avoid recession in 2009. This was due, in part, to Poland’s large domestic market and limited reliance on exports, which—coupled with a well-capitalized and profitable banking system—contained the negative spillovers from the global crisis. In addition, Poland’s flexible exchange rate regime has buffered external shocks. Underpinning Poland’s strong performance is a track record of sound economic policies, which helped contain macroeconomic imbalances and allowed considerable room for maneuver when the global crisis struck.

“Looking ahead, economic growth is expected to pick up gradually. The global environment is improving, and balance-sheet adjustment in the Polish banking system appears to have run its course, suggesting that banks are ready to cautiously expand credit. However, given continued uncertainty about the global outlook and fragile global investor sentiment, I share the authorities’ view that a successor FCL arrangement, in the proposed amount, would provide a useful insurance against external risks.”

Background:

The first FCL arrangement with Poland was approved on May 6, 2009 (see Press Release No. 09/153) and expired on May 5, 2010.

The FCL is an instrument established on March 24, 2009 that is available to Fund member countries deemed to possess very strong fundamentals, policies, and track records of policy implementation. Access to FCL resources is based on the requesting country having met these criteria, rather than on fulfilling ex-post performance criteria.

See Press Release No. 09/85 and Public Information Notice No. 09/40 for more information on the FCL and the qualifying criteria.