Gold Magazine March - April 2013, Issue 24 | Page 34

INTERVIEW

P

awel Dobrowolski, Ambassador
of Poland to Cyprus, is not afraid
to be labelled a ‘liberal’. On the
controversial issue (at least in Cyprus these days) of privatisation,
his stance is clear: privatisation is
the best way to achieve competitiveness, lower prices for consumers and benefits for the taxpayer.

Gold: The global financial crisis has affected every
country in one way or another. What happened in
Poland and how has your government tackled the
problems?
Pawel Dobrowolski: After five years of crisis we are all
definitely wiser. We are now able to draw a “disaster
map” showing where it started, how it spread and what
country-and EU-specific measures were taken to control
it. Each country has its own assessment of what had
happened, and how it affected its economy. Poland has
experienced continuous economic growth since 2007.
There have been no signs of banking system collapse,
Polish bonds performed well, and still do. One might say
that we were looking at the crisis from a safe distance.
The shortest answer to the question “why we were so
lucky” would be the following: if one defines the euro
crisis as a byproduct of the “spend more than you earn”
symptom, which had plagued Europe for many decades
than, paradoxically, I might say that Poland was not yet
wealthy enough to fall into a trap of uncontrolled spending and “credit frenzy”. Our GDP per capita index shows
enormous dynamics and yet it is still below the European
average. As an emerging market we had to implement
financial regulations which effectively prevented realestate bubbles or “poisoned bonds” traffic, while at the
same time we did our homework: invested in the infrastructure, kept the debt-to-GDP ratio within set limits,
and maintained healthy and transparent bank and financial governance. A healthy and large internal consumer
market has also helped. One important measure taken by
the Government I would like to mention is the extension
of retirement age to 67: it regulated and stabilized the
labour market in view of the aging population – another
common European issue.

THE EUROZONE ENTRY
TARGETS ARE WITHIN
OUR REACH.
THE POLISH WILL
GAIN THROUGH THE
ADOPTION OF THE EURO

Look at the economic performance of the EU27 for
2012. Poland is among the only five countries that registered growth above 2% and it is by far the largest. In the
crisis-troubled EU we are the “healthy case”, which is not
to say that we are trouble free. We began 2012 with over
4% growth but it has been another difficult year for the
whole of Europe. The Polish economy is 70% exportbased, so Europe’s problems immediately become ours.
Gold: Poland is currently one of the fastest growing
countries within the EU. What are the main drivers
behind your country’s positive growth environment?
P.D.: I could probably say that we have survived the crisis
because we work hard, possibly the hardest in Europe,
but that would be too simple. Among the main drivers
I will mention
only a few. One
is a very healthy
financial and
banking system:
every Polish bank
passed the stress
test with flying
colours, with its
core tier 1 capital
well above 10%.
Another is a carefully managed
public debt: its
ratio to GDP is –
and has to be due
to constitutional
restraints – below
60%. You may
also add a significant internal market of 37 million, a steady investment policy with a high
rate of EU funds absorption as well as substantial Foreign
Direct Investment (about €10 billion annually), and
the maintenance of good export levels. You might like to
note that the value of our food exports alone in 2012 was
equal to the entire GDP of Cyprus.

THE
value of our food
exports alone in
2012 was equal to
the entire GDP
of Cyprus

Gold: One of Poland’s most important tasks for the
near future is the preparation of the economy to meet
the strict criteria for entry into the eurozone. When
does Poland plan to adopt the euro and what is the
strategy it has adopted in order to meet this target?
P.D.: For a country of our size and potential, the euro
debate is vital. On paper we are ready to meet the criteria
but, in reality it is as much a social and political debate
as it is an economic one. The target is already set for
2015 and we should be ready by then but questions still
remain. We are carefully studying individual cases, such
as Cyprus or our neighbour Slovakia, and we are trying
to balance the arguments for and against. There remains
– and not only among the sceptics – a recurrent issue:
What “kind” of eurozone will we be entering? The next
few years will be crucial, both for the concept of the eu-

34 Gold THE INTERNATIONAL INVESTMENT, FINANCE & PROFESSIONAL SERVICES MAGAZINE OF CYPRUS

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07/03/2013 11:35