Poland maintains rates, to comment on reasons later

    Poland's central bank maintained its benchmark reference rate at 1.50 percent, as widely expected, along with its other key interest rates and said it would hold a press conference later today to explain its decisions.
    The National Bank of Poland (NBP) in March cut its policy rate by 50 basis points but said at that point that it was concluding the monetary easing cycle.
    At its last meeting in April the NBP said deflation was expected to continue in coming quarters due to the sharp fall in commodity prices but stable economic growth, low interest rates, a good situation in the labor market and the expected recovery in the euro zone should limit the risk of inflation remaining below its target in the medium term.
    Poland's inflation rate rose slightly to minus 1.1 percent in April from minus 1.5 percent in March but it was still the 10th consecutive month of falling consumer prices, substantially below the central bank's target range of 1.5 percent to 3.5 percent inflation around a midpoint of 2.5 percent.
   In March the NBP forecast 2015 inflation of minus 1.0 to 0.0 percent and 2016 inflation of minus 0.1 percent to a positive 1.8 percent.
   Poland's Gross Domestic Product expanded by 1.0 percent in the first quarter of this year from the fourth quarter for annual growth of 3.6 percent, up from 3.3 percent in the fourth quarter.
    The unemployment rate eased to 11.2 percent in April from 11.7 percent in March and 12 percent in January and February.

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