Japan agency increases Poland's credit rating

Wojciech Kowalczyk, the Polish deputy finance minister, told Polish Radio that the Japan Credit Rating Agency decision is further evidence of Poland's growing credit worthiness on international financial markets.

This week, Fitch Ratings released a statement saying they had revised Poland's ratings outlook from “stable to positive”, adding that “Poland's general government deficit […] has narrowed by around 4.5 percentage points of GDP since 2010, to an estimated 3.4 percent of GDP in 2012, placing it among the EU's best performers.”

Poland's economy continues to show signs of a slowdown, however.

The central statistical office (GUS) released data on Friday showing that the eocnomy grew by 1.1 percent in the fourth quarter of 2012, compared to 1.4 percent year-on-year in the third quarter.

GUS also says that investments in the fourth quarter fell by 0.3 percent. year-on-year, while domestic demand fell by 0.7 percent. (pg)