Poland Signs Crucial IMF Loan Deal
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WARSAW — Poland has signed an important loan package with the International Monetary Fund that will help the East European nation switch to a Western free-market style economy.
The deal, reported by the official PAP news agency Saturday, will release a $725-million IMF standby loan and trigger other Western aid for Poland’s near-bankrupt economy.
It will aid the Solidarity-led government, running the country after decades of communism, in efforts to move away from a cumbersome, centrally planned economy.
“Finance Minister Leszek Balcerowicz and Polish National Bank President Wladyslaw Baka signed the letter of intent to the IMF,” the agency said.
The deal was delayed last Tuesday because the entire Polish cabinet wanted to examine its provisions closely before the letter was signed.
The letter sets out a detailed program designed to curb Poland’s 500% annual inflation and start restructuring its economy along market lines.
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