In its previous projection released in June, the bank expected the Polish economy to shrink 4.6 percent in 2020 and expand by 4.2 percent in 2021.
In its latest World Economic Outlook report, released on Tuesday, the IMF said that global GDP would shrink 4.4 percent in 2020 and then expand by 5.2 percent in 2021.
Poland’s Finance Minister Tadeusz Kościński said in a comment that the IMF is “yet another international institution that has positively evaluated Poland.”
He noted that the IMF’s latest GDP forecasts for Poland were more optimistic than Poland’s own projections.
He also said the IMF’s revised forecast was “proof that our economic policy and the measures we have taken to tackle the crisis are producing results."
The Polish government expects the country’s GDP to shrink 4.6 percent this year amid the coronavirus pandemic and grow 4 percent next year.
Kościński has previously said that the projected 4.6 percent contraction in Polish GDP in 2020 would mark the smallest drop in the 27-nation European Union.
The Polish economy grew 4.5 percent in 2019, the country’s Central Statistical Office (GUS) said this month, revising upward its previous estimate of 4.1 percent.
International ratings agency S&P Global this month affirmed Poland's "A-" long-term foreign-currency credit rating, with a stable outlook, as economies worldwide struggle with the fallout from the coronavirus pandemic.
The Fitch ratings agency at the end of last month affirmed Poland's "A-" credit rating with a stable outlook, citing the country’s “diversified economy with a track record of stable growth and sound policy framework, coupled with EU membership.”
The Moody's ratings agency last month kept Poland's rating unchanged at "A2" with a stable outlook.
(gs/pk)
Source: IAR, PAP