Press release after the meeting of the Financial Stability Committee on macroprudential supervision

Date of publication:

The meeting of the Financial Stability Committee on macroprudential supervision was held on 10 December 2021. The following persons participated in the meeting:

  • Paweł Szałamacha, Member of the Management Board of Narodowy Bank Polski as the Chair of the Committee,
  • Piotr Patkowski, Undersecretary of State, Ministry of Finance,
  • Marcin Mikołajczyk, Deputy Chairman of the Polish Financial Supervision Authority,
  • Piotr Tomaszewski, President of the Management Board of the Bank Guarantee Fund.

Performing its statutory duties, the Committee passed a resolution on a recommendation addressed to the Minister of Finance on maintaining the countercyclical buffer rate at 0% in the fourth quarter of 2021. The representative of the Minister of Finance agreed with the recommendation and acknowledged that there is no need to take legislative measures in this area.

The Committee took note of the NBP-prepared Financial Stability Report. December 2021. The Committee shared the NBP opinion that the overall assessment of Poland’s financial stability has improved. According to the Report, the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic have turned to be less severe for the financial sector than initially anticipated. Concerns over a credit crunch have not materialised. The intensity of the sources of risks identified so far, i.e. pandemic-driven credit losses, banks’ low profitability, the vulnerabilities of certain institutions and the contagion effect, has declined. The legal risk of the portfolio of FX housing loans continued to be regarded as a major risk to financial stability. The Committee examined the progress of work on the implementation of settlement agreements that banks have reached with their clients.

Polish Payment System Oversight Report for 2020 was presented to the Committee for the purposes of assessment of risk associated with the payment system infrastructure.

The Committee also took note of an overview of current trends on the domestic residential real estate market. The assessment of real estate developments includes three dimensions of risk assessment, i.e. (1) real estate prices, (2) credit growth and (3) the situation of borrowers. The analyses show that the tensions in the housing market do not generate any significant risk for the financial system. The evaluation of risk factors related to the current level and growth rate of lending does not point to concerning symptoms associated with excessive easing of lending standards, and the existing recommendations of the Polish Financial Supervision Authority reduce such risk.

In connection with the position regarding the functioning of the cooperative banking sector (Resolution No. 47/2021), the Committee took note of reports of the affiliating banks and the Institutional Protection Schemes on measures taken to improve the operating efficiency of cooperative banking. Moreover, the Committee examined the progress of the work of the competent entities for the implementation of recommendations regarding:

  • the lowering of burdens associated with financing the bank guarantee fund (Resolution No. nr 43/2021),
  • risk weights for exposures secured by mortgages on residential property (Resolution No. 52/2021) and
  • activities that support the stable functioning of cooperative banks and credit unions (Resolution No. 46/2021 and 48/2021).

Implementing the European Systemic Risk Board (ESRB) recommendation on the assessment of cross-border effects of and voluntary reciprocity for macroprudential policy measures, the Committee studied the results of the monitoring of the Polish banking sector’s exposures to France and concluded that there are reasons justifying non-reciprocation of the macroprudential instrument implemented. In line with the reporting timetable, the Committee has decided to notify the ESRB of the manner in which the following recommendations have been implemented:

  • a recommendation on closing real estate data gaps (ESRB/2016/14) and
  • a recommendation on identifying legal entities (ESRB/2020/12).

The next regular meeting of the Committee on macroprudential supervision is scheduled for March 2022.