VIENNA (Reuters) - Most interest rate-setters on Poland's Monetary Policy Council are ready to act immediately if needed and do not believe a wait-and-see approach is appropriate right now, MPC member Dariusz Filar said on Tuesday.
Filar, speaking to a Reuters Summit via a video link, said inflationary pressures were on the rise in the booming economy and that more rate tightening was needed.
"The majority of the council members feel a concern from all the pressures and dangers. It is not a wait-and-see approach, it is a watch carefully and react immediately approach. It is a much more less relaxed position," said Filar, a hawk on the council.
"We observe high growth of inflationary pressures."
Filar said it remained unclear how many more interest rate hikes would be needed by March 2008 and said the period until then was "very delicate" for the council.
"We already made three pre-emptive strikes and it is not easy to say how many more are needed," Filar said.
The MPC has raised the main interest rates three times so far this year to 4.75 percent from an all-time low of 4.0 percent before the first hike in April.
Most analysts polled by Reuters earlier this month had expected the council to raise rates again in November despite a surprise drop in inflation in August.
But since then, inflation was shown to have jumped in September to 2.3 percent year-on-year, up from August 1.5 percent. That was significantly above expectations although still below the central bank's 2.5 percent target. Continued...
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