By Pawel Florkiewicz
WARSAW, July 10 (Reuters) - Two Polish central bankers said on Friday it was too early to say whether interest rates could be cut in September, but one of them indicated that there was room for a reduction this year.
The comments by Monetary Policy Council (MPC) members Henryk Wnorowski and Ludwik Kotecki came a day after central bank governor Adam Glapinski said he could propose a 25-basis-point cut after the summer. Glapinski added, however, that other MPC members could be more
cautious about easing.
The bank left its main interest rate at 3.75% on Wednesday for the fourth month in a row.
Speaking during a television interview, Wnorowski said discussing what could happen in September was "purely academic" but that he saw no grounds for a cut on the basis of the current outlook.
"Of course, we can speculate, but even yesterday's statement by the governor contained many reservations and assumptions: if, if, if," Wnorowski told Biznes 24 television.
"By September, these few 'ifs' may not come true; others may emerge ... As of today, I see a huge problem with supporting such a motion."
He added that if there was room for an interest rate cut this year, there would likely be no more than one.
NO RUSH TO CUT
Kotecki, however, said there were some arguments for a rate cut this year, though there was no rush to do so.
"It is too early to declare support or lack of support for a possible motion to cut rates after the summer break. If there is a motion, we will take a closer look. We'll see what information comes in by September," Kotecki told the PAP news agency.
He added that while this month's latest central bank inflation projection "puts an end to the discussion about any rate hikes", there were "grounds to consider rate cuts later this year".
He said he expected economic growth to slow in the coming years, noting that inflation is on target and will most likely remain around that target for the foreseeable future.
"There is therefore no reason to say that we need a more restrictive monetary policy," he said.
(Reporting by Pawel Florkiewicz, Alan Charlish and Anna Koper; editing by Philippa Fletcher)
