Articles in English
Obserwator Finansowy features views and analysis of economy in Poland and other countries, written by some of the best journalists, economists and analysts. Our mission is to share knowledge of economics and financial markets in the world.
Obserwator Finansowy is a project under aegis of the Poland’s central bank, Narodowy Bank Polski. We have published thousands of articles about the Polish and global economy. Our journalists have conducted hundreds of interviews with Nobel laureates, distinguished economists, business leaders and politicians with views across the political spectrum.
In this section you can find selected articles in English.
International trade in services is slowing down
A significant slowdown in the Polish trade growth in services has been already observed by the end of 2019. The Q4’19 results have been one of the weakest recorded since the end of the global financial crisis The current...
Coronavirus tsunami hits the Ukrainian economy
The lockdown restrictions and the state of emergency declared by the Ukrainian government are ravaging the already faltering economy of Ukraine. At the end of March 2020, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal presented a...
Ageing economies
The population of the already reduced European Union will shrink from 447.2 million in 2020 to 408.2 million by the end of the century. At the same time, there will be 40 million more Europeans 65+ year old than today. For...
Czech budget in the worst shape since 1993
The Czech government approved the Finance Ministry’s proposal to increase the state deficit to CZK300bn (EUR10.9bn), up from the previously estimated CZK100bn (EUR3.6bn). This is already the worst budgetary performance...
Central bankers must be able to say no to governments
We should not compare today’s crisis to the previous one, says Paul Tucker, former Deputy Governor of Bank of England. And what central banks are doing is, according to him, not business as usual but they have a reason: a...
Visegrad Group is less sensitive to the slowdown in Western Europe
The rate of economic growth in Poland and the Visegrad Group countries (Czech Republic, Hungaary, Slovakia and Poland; V4) has not reflected the markedly weaker economic situation in Germany and the Eurozone countries over...
Recurring fiscal problems
So far, Poland has maintained strong economic growth for several years. Thanks to that, the situation of public finances has also improved. The crisis we will face in the coming months and the need to increase spending to...
Russian Sberbank has a new owner
The Central Bank of the Russian Federation sold its 50 per cent+1 share in Sberbank, Russia’s largest financial institution, to the Russian Finance Ministry. Although officially carried out to avoid conflict of interest,...
Unconditional basic income — necessary or not?
Spain will be the first European country to introduce the Unconditional Basic Income (UBI). Nadia Calvino, the deputy prime minister, said that UBI might become a structural and permanent instrument, not only a temporary way...
Innovative chats do not support innovation
“We have become a victim to the mania of talking about innovation and have neglected other important areas of the economy, i.e. people who make the world go round but who do not invent new products,” says professor Lee...