Poland's Kaczynski expects further interest rate hikes - Reuters

WARSAW, Dec 27 (Reuters) - The head of Poland's ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, said he expects more interest rate hikes following three in a row over the past three months.

In an interview published on Monday, he said the decision by the central bank to start tightening monetary policy in October had been taken at the right time, even though he and other members of the cabinet had wanted it sooner. The three hikes have taken the main rate to 1.75% from 0.1%.

Kaczynski, a deputy prime minister and Poland's de facto leader, also said he would like the central bank's governor, Adam Glapinski, to stay on for a second term, though that decision was in the hands of president Andrzej Duda.

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"There are many reasons to believe that the move of the National Bank of Poland to raise interest rates was timely, although I must admit that it was the subject of a dispute between the bank and the government," Kaczynski the interview for website Interia.pl.

"In the government, we thought it should have been done earlier," he added.

He said Glapinski had a different opinion on the issue, and institutions such as the International Monetary Fund later confirmed "that the decision on raising rates was taken at the right time".

"We had three interest rate hikes. I think there will be more, but it is only my suggestion, I have zero influence on that decision," Kaczynski said.

He added his relations with Glapinski were very good, but he had no direct influence over the central bank's work. Asked if Glapinski should stay on his job for a second term, he said: "I believe so, but it's the president's decision, not mine".

In the 1990s Kaczynski and Glapinski co-founded the Centre Agreement party, a predecessor of the PiS.

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Reporting by Pawel Florkiewicz Writing by Anna Wlodarczak-Semczuk Editing by Peter Graff

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