Poland deputy finance minister says 2008 GDP may grow less than 5.7 pct

WARSAW (Thomson Financial) - Polish economy may grow at a slower pace than the earlier forecasted 5.7 pct in 2008, as there are more signals of higher risk aversion and a turnaround at global equity markets, Poland's Deputy Finance Minister Katarzyna Zajdel-Kurowska told Gazeta Prawna daily.

'We are still working at changing our forecasts,' Zajdel-Kurowska was quoted as saying. 'But already today I cannot exclude revising GDP (guidance) for 2007 and 2008.'

'In the case of 2008 the growth pace of GDP may be lower than the earlier forecasted 5.7 pct.'

She reiterated that GDP growth in the second quarter of this year will be lower than the decade-high 7.4 pct seen in the first three months of the year, adding the April-June period may be this year's worst quarter.

'I may not exclude more foreign debt issues this year,' Zajdel-Kurowska told Gazeta Prawna. 'Our needs for this year amount to around 0.5 bln eur more, but we'll see what the market situation is.'

Source: forbes.com