State-owned lender BGK may step back into Polish financial markets to prop up the value of the zloty or government bonds if global turmoil encourages exaggerated moves in prices, its chief executive said. BGK has become a significant player in the past years, mainly on the foreign exchange market, thanks to its government mandate to regularly convert part of the funds Poland receives from the European Union into zlotys.
It has also admitted to at least once intervening on the secondary bonds market. "A correction on the fixed income market in every country may take place and is natural to some extent. But if it is too sharp - that paves the way for (the bank's) unorthodox activities," Chief Executive Dariusz Daniluk told Reuters in an interview. "Potential activity in the market is one of our roles and market participants should bear it in mind." In September, Deputy Finance Minister Wojciech Kowalczyk said that BGK is a small stabiliser in the market and has successfully carried out such operations in the past. Poland's bonds have rallied steadily on the back of historically low interest rates and a broadly healthy economic and fiscal backdrop, driving 10-year yields to record levels of less than 4.5 percent.
The zloty, in common with many emerging market currencies, has gained more than 8 percent this year but has looked more shaky in recent weeks. Expected further cuts in interest rates, allied to the less certain outlook for growth they are aimed at fixing, may weigh on the zloty in months ahead. "We are interested in a stable market. Of course we need to remember that we're in a free-float regime but volatility (on the foreign exchange market) should not to breach certain levels," Daniluk said.