Poland had some limited evolution away from its previous command economy before the political change of 1989, but then underwent rapid stabilisation and financial reform that allowed it to embark in 1998 on inflation targeting, which was tightened in 2004.
| Years | Targets and attainment | Classification |
| 1974-81 | monobank financial system accommodating centrally set economic plan; multiple exchange rates for trade with both ‘non-socialist’ and ‘socialist’ countries | multiple direct controls MDC |
| 1982-89 | major economic reforms 1982 designed to give more autonomy and responsibility to enterprises, along with bank credits being provided on basis of profitability and other considerations (not just in accord with plan), but implementation of reforms imperfect; exchange rates with non-socialist countries unified, then adjusted (devalued) in relation to basket at intervals so as to secure profitability of c.80% of exports; end of monobank system 1989 with nine new commercial banks established | unstructured discretion UD |
| 1990-97 | 1990 ‘shock therapy’ with exchange rate devalued and pegged to USD with narrow margins, subsequently devalued again; forex market liberalised; preannounced crawl from May 1992 with rate of crawl and central parity adjusted at intervals; move to indirect monetary policy instruments – initially refinancing rate and liquidity management, by 1993 open market operations in central bank and Treasury bills, later government bonds; preferential credits modified and ended; banks freed to set own interest rates; fiscal dominance initially significant but gradually brought under control; ‘multi-anchor, multi-indicator’ strategy | loosely structured discretion LSD |
| 1998-2003 | formal converging inflation targeting, but narrow targets missed two years and nearly missed two years, out of six; inflation converged but only erratically | loose converging inflation targeting LCIT |
| 2004-23 | static inflation targets undershot 2014-16 (but long-term inflation expectations remain within tolerance band), missed some months in other years, large overshoot 2021-23 (despite ‘anti-inflation shield’ tax cuts), with longer-term but not short-term inflation expectations still anchored within target band; macroprudential policies introduced; Covid-19 first wave relatively small, but strong effect from and policy response to second wave late 2020; Ukraine war disruption 2022-23 | full inflation targeting FIT |
Selected IMF references: Poland – Calculation of Quota, December 1985, pp35-9; RED 1988 pp1-3, 40-41; RED 1991 pp1-2, 22-9, 36-8; BP 1994 pp39-40, 51-4, 74-8; RED 1997 pp56-8, 145-57; SR 1999 pp20-21; SR 2000 pp22-4; SR 2001 p22; SR 2003 pp18, 24; SR 2014 p32; SR 2017 p38; SR 2019 pp9-11, 27; SR 2021 pp4-5, 18-21; SR 2022 pp16-21, 34; SR 2023 pp4-6, 18-20, 34.
Other references: Narodowy Bank Polski, Report on monetary policy in 2023, pp7-15, 26.
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Monetary Policy Frameworks 