Who is the best president of the National Bank of Poland? The results of the survey for “Wprost” are surprising

Amid the uproar over Adam Glapiński's future as president of the National Bank of Poland (NBP), we decided to check which of the current heads of the central bank Poles value the most.

The study by the SW Research agency for “Wprost” included the presidents managing the NBP in the 21st century, starting from Leszek Balcerowicz (he became president at the beginning of 2001) and ending with Adam Glapiński. During the period under study, Sławomir Skrzypek and Marek Belka also headed the central bank. .

Who was the best president of the National Bank of Poland in the 21st century?

“Who was the best president of the National Bank of Poland in the 21st century?” The survey participants most often answered “I have no opinion” (41.2%). Respondents who decided to indicate a specific name most often mentioned Marek Belka. Every fifth respondent (19.9%) named the President of the National Bank of Poland in 2010-2016. Leszek Balcerowicz came second (16.5%). Only third place was taken by the current president of the NBP, Adam Glapiński (14.5%). The respondents were least likely to mention Sławomir Skrzypek (8%), who headed the central bank for a relatively short time, only three years. His term of office was interrupted by his tragic death in the Smolensk plane crash on April 10, 2010.

The leader of the survey became the president of the NBP after the Smolensk disaster. Bronisław Komorowski, then Marshal of the Sejm and acting President, appointed Marek Belka as the head of the central bank. It was a big surprise for public opinion and Komorowski's camp, because Belka was associated with the leftist circles, and at the end of the SLD government he served as prime minister.

Twice is a charm

Belka himself admitted in his memoirs published after leaving the NBP that he was very pleased with the Marshal's proposal, although initially he approached it with reserve. Why? He was counting on a similar proposal 10 years earlier from Aleksander Kwaśniewski, whom he advised at that time.

“It was 2000, Hanna Gronkiewicz-Waltz resigned from office during her second term and went to London, accepting the position of vice-president of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, and the chair of the head of the NBP was left empty. I must admit that I was interested in him. I was in Albania, talking to Arben Ahmetaj – today the Minister of Economy of his country – when Aleksander Kwaśniewski called. In a split second, I was distracted from the difficult issues of sealing Albania's customs policy and became all ears.

– You know that we have a problem with appointing the president of the NBP – the president began.

– Well… I suspended my voice, trying not to reveal my intentions.

– Exactly – Olek picked up the thread. I offered this position to Professor Balcerowicz. I'm calling to ask if you think he is competent.

– What was I supposed to say? Of course it is, I replied. But the irritation kept me occupied for a long, long time,” Belka recalled in the book “Selfie”.

However, later in his memoirs, Belka admits that a decade later (during this time he was, among others, Minister of Finance and then Prime Minister) he was much better prepared to take over the position of President of the NBP.

The study shows that Belka was most often chosen as the best president of the NBP by respondents aged 50 plus (23.2%), people with higher education (23.5%), earning from PLN 5,000 to PLN 7,000 net (32.5%). ), as well as respondents from cities with a population of 200,000 to 500,000. inhabitants (33.8%).