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.
In Slovakia, Little Change Despite Decades of Protest
Tom NicholsonNovember 2014 was again a month of marches in Bratislava, with thousands taking to the streets of the Slovak capital to deplore state corruption much as their parents had massed to bring down communism a quarter century...
Belarus: Reliance on Russia Puts Off Reforms
Sergei KuznetsovBelarus’s economy remains one of the least reformed in the region – largely because it has been able to rely on help from Russia to avoid a politically risky restructuring which could endanger the authoritarian rule of...
IMF calls for CEE reforms to boost growth
Jan CieńskiCentral Europe in general and Poland in particular have had an astonishing quarter century as their economies have dramatically closed the gap with the wealthier western half of the continent – but the catch-up risks...
The central bank should look at underlying processes, not just the inflation target
Marek BelkaIt is fair to say that the euro crisis was a game-changer in our thinking about the viability of currency unions in general and euro accession in particular. I will try to be brief and get right to the point. I would like to...
Naive liberalism harms the economy
Sebastian StodolakShould the government support its own entrepreneurs? Krzysztof Domarecki, one of the wealthiest Poles, represents such a view. “I am not in favour of protectionism, yet unrestrained liberalism is harmful” argues the...
After a successful transformation Poland begins to drift
Jacek RamotowskiA quarter of a century after the formation of Tadeusz Mazowiecki’s government, in which Deputy Prime Minister Leszek Balcerowicz was responsible for the economic reforms, economists are trying to answer the question as to...
Poles will not eat what Russians will not buy
Jakub Olipra, Krystian Jaworski, Tomasz HueckelThe Russian embargo on the Polish food imports will result in excess supply arising on the domestic food market. The lower demand in Russia will not be compensated by consumption in Poland. The goods exported to Russia...
More Russia, less Europe in Ukraine
Piotr AleksandrowiczTwo events have called into question the advancing integration of Ukraine with the European Union. President Petro Poroshenko has acknowledged there is no chance of the Ukrainian government winning the war in eastern Ukraine...
Romania – a favourite, though unruly child of the EU
Bogdan GóralczykRomania attracts little interest now on the international scene, although it is still undergoing a turbulent transition. I do not really know how to deal with this country. The recent resumption of growth does not...
Poland doesn’t deserve to be at the G20 yet
Witold GadomskiEconomic and demographic indicators will prevent our politicians from fulfilling their dreams of Poland participating in the G-20. However, we could fight for the status of a permanent guest and represent the societies which...