Polish Ruling Camp Denies Talk of Central Bank Governor’s Dismissal

(Bloomberg) -- Poland’s ruling party isn’t discussing ways to oust central bank Governor Adam Glapinski, even though there’s a conflict over transparency at the monetary authority, according to a deputy prime minister.

Glapinski, a long-time friend of Jaroslaw Kaczynski, the powerful leader of the ruling Law & Justice party, has fallen out with his political backers in past months after a series of scandals. They include reports of exuberant pay for some central bank employees and the governor’s potential role in a bribery scandal at the country’s financial regulator.

Facing two elections within months, Law & Justice has launched legislation to crack down on what it regards as excessive salaries at the central bank, drawing criticism from Glapinski. The governor’s six-year term runs until 2022, and he has said in past months that the benchmark interest rate may stay unchanged at 1.5 percent until then.

“I never talked about a potential dismissal of Adam Glapinski with any politician from the ruling camp,” Deputy Prime Minister Jaroslaw Gowin told broadcaster TVN24 on Wednesday. “It would be irresponsible, if a deputy premier suggested dismissal of someone whose term has a constitutional guarantee. Of course Glapinski could resign himself, but looking at his statements, he doesn’t see any reason to do so.”

Kaczynski said that some statements made by Glapinski during the pay scandal were surprising and didn’t “please” him, the PAP news service reported. But he said he has no influence over the governor, who runs an independent institution.

To contact the reporter on this story: Wojciech Moskwa in Warsaw at wmoskwa@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Balazs Penz at bpenz@bloomberg.net, Michael Winfrey, Andras Gergely

©2019 Bloomberg L.P.