Poland's economy will soon emerge from its deep downturn and Europe is also pulling out of its crisis, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on Saturday. Tusk said second-quarter gross domestic growth (GDP) data should already show a slight recovery. He pointed to an improving manufacturing sector, which returned to growth in July after 15 consecutive months of contraction, as one of the main signs of a looming recovery.
"We clearly feel that this crisis is nearing its end, although the times are certainly not without tensions," the prime minister told a news conference. "There could have been slight acceleration in the second quarter." "I believe that we will soon be able to announce an end to the crisis in Europe and in Poland," he said.
Poland's exporters have struggled as their customers in the euro zone hold back on spending in response to tax hikes and budget cuts in countries with big debt burdens. Also in anticipation of a recovery in the second half of the year, the Polish central bank announced an end to its easing cycle in July and said it planned to keep the key rate at its all-time low of 2.5 percent till the end of the year at least.
The bank cut the rate by a total of 225 basis points between November and July in response to an economy that nearly stood still for six months at the turn of 2012 and 2013, with quarterly growth levels at near zero and unemployment levels at over 14 percent in February, a multi-year high. The state statistics office is due to publish its first estimate of second-quarter GDP on August 14. The finance ministry has already said it is expecting economic growth in the second quarter to have picked up to 0.7-0.8 percent year-on-year from 0.5 percent in the first quarter.
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