News parkiet

Interest rates

Rate hike ?a certainty? after May

inflation data, economists say

Polish consumer prices rose as much as 3.4 percent in May, prompting new speculations that the country?s Monetary Policy Council would raise interest rates at its next meeting later this month. Inflation figures released Monday by the Main Office of Statistics were much higher than consensus estimates that ranged from 2.8 to 3.2 percent, while central bank?s own inflation target is just 0.1 percent higher than yesterday?s data.

Economists blame high oil prices and the cost of Poland?s entry into the European Union for the surge of inflation.

Insurance

More insurers selling policies by phone

Smaller insurance firms are increasingly turning to direct sales channels to sell their products. At least one, Israeli-Dutch venture called TU Link4 is relying exclusively on its call center staff to sell car insurance. Link4, which started out last year, doubled its premiums in the first quarter to more than 14 million zloty.

Electrical equipment

ZPUE turns profitable again

ZPUE electrical equipment supplied posted 0.4 million zloty earnings at the end of April, reversing previous losses in the first quarter, traditionally a weak period for the company, CFO Ryszard Iwańczyk told PARKIET yesterday. May sales rose came in strong at 9 million zloty despite VAT tax hike on construction materials. ZPUE, which is based in south-central Poland and makes switchgears and transformer stations, says it expects net earnings of at least 4 million zloty ($1.05 million). Sales are set to rise about 15 percent to PLN 105 million.

Farming

Some farmers may lose EU subsidies,

government agency says

Just two out of three Polish farmers have applied for EU subsidies before Monday?s deadline, Iwona Musial from ARiMR agricultural agency said yesterday. Farmers who are late with their applications automatically lose part of their subsidies. Since May 1, over 1.5 million Polish farmers are entitled to annual payments of up to 800 zlotys per hectare.