Polish cenbank chief broke the rules, says motion to oust him

It will have to be investigated by a parliamentary commission before going to a vote by the full chamber. The motion's eight charges include lacking independence from the previous government, breaking constitutional rules that prevent the central bank from financing government borrowing when it launched a quantitative easing programme during the COVID pandemic and misleading the finance ministry about the bank's financial results.

Poland's central bank governor faces accusations that include breaking constitutional rules with a bond-buying programme and misleading the finance ministry, according to a motion to put him before a state tribunal seen by Reuters. Pressure has mounted on National Bank of Poland (NBP) chief Adam Glapinski since a coalition of pro-European parties came to power in December, vowing to hold those they accuse of wrongdoing under the previous right-wing populist administration to account.

Deputy Prime Minister Krzysztof Gawkowski said that the coalition had collected the 115 signatures required for the 68-page motion to oust Glapinski, who denies wrongdoing, to be submitted to the parliament speaker. It will have to be investigated by a parliamentary commission before going to a vote by the full chamber.

The motion's eight charges include lacking independence from the previous government, breaking constitutional rules that prevent the central bank from financing government borrowing when it launched a quantitative easing programme during the COVID pandemic and misleading the finance ministry about the bank's financial results. They also include a charge that Glapinski engaged in currency interventions without proper authorisation and cut interest rates, despite high inflation, for political reasons.

Glapinski says he has always done his job independent of political influence. He has staunchly defended his record, pointing to a sharp fall in inflation over recent months and saying that quantitative easing was essential to rescuing the largest economy in the east of the European Union during the pandemic. "These are very strong allegations, these are allegations that, in my opinion, give me full right to say that there will be a state tribunal," Gawkowski told TVP Info television on Thursday.

"He (Glapinski) encouraged Poles to take out loans when he knew that the inflation rate was going up and that interest rates would go up. He said that inflation in Poland would not increase."