UPDATE 1-Polish c.bankers diverge on 2009 growth forecast

Polish central bank policymakers on Monday offered differing views on the scale of the economic slowdown in 2009, underscoring uncertainty about the impact of the global financial crisis on the EU's largest eastern member.
The divergence of forecasts is high ... but the growth close to 2 percent is the most likely scenario,' Slawinski, a moderate member of the 10-strong rate-setting panel, told radio PiN in an interview.
Andrzej Slawinski, a moderate on the 10-member rate-setting Monetary Policy Council (MPC), said he expects growth of around 2 percent this year, while his hawkish colleague Marian Noga told a newspaper economic growth would slow to 3 percent.

However, both figures mark a significant slowdown from a predicted growth rate for 2008 of at least 5 percent, with markets expecting the central bank to respond by cutting interest rates by a total of one percentage point during 2009.

Analysts have in recent months slashed forecasts for the local economy as worries mount that recession in the euro zone, Poland's main trade partner, will derail years of strong growth.

The deteriorating outlook for the economy also prompted the central bank to slash borrowing costs by a total of 1 percentage point late last year, including a 75 basis point cut in December, its biggest easing in six years.

The main interest rate in Poland now stands at 5 percent.
Source: By Piotr Skolimowski, Mike Peacock, forbes.com