By David Barwick

FRANKFURT (MNI) – Slawomir Skrzypek, head of the National Bank of
Poland, died Saturday when an airplane that was also carrying the
country’s president Lech Kaczynski and numerous other top Polish
officials crashed on landing in Smolensk, Russia.

The high-ranking delegation was on its way to Russia to commemorate
the 60th anniversary of the Soviet-ordered killing of some 20,000 Polish
officers and others in the Katyn forest nearby.

Skrzypek, who had exactly one month to go until his 47th birthday,
was appointed as the head of the Polish central bank on January 10, 2007
by Kaczynski, whose wife and all of the other 96 passengers onboard the
airplane also died in the crash.

The ratification of Skrzypek by a slim margin in Polish parliament
was controversial owing to his relative lack of experience, especially
compared with his internationally well-regarded predecessor, Leszek
Balcerowicz, author of Poland’s economic transformation program in the
1990s.

Though the naming of Skrzypek — who had worked previously as head
of PKO Bank Polski SA — was widely criticized at the time as an attempt
by the government to curb the central bank’s independence, he had
recently clashed with the government and most other Monetary Policy
Council members over how to calculate the NBP’s profit and thus how much
money should be transferred to the state.

The central bank under Skrypek also butted heads publicly last
month with the country’s finance ministry over whether Poland should
prolong its $20.5 billion credit line with the International Monetary
Fund. The bank argued that an extension was not warranted because
Poland’s economy was in good shape. Poland was, in fact, the only EU
country to escape the recent recession.

Despite having generally favored an easy monetary policy, Skrzypek
had recently advocated tightening the monetary reins, whereas the
finance ministry had expressed concern about yet more rapid appreciation
of the zloty.

The European Central Bank on Saturday issued a statement from its
president, Jean-Claude Trichet, who said, “the General Council of the
ECB deeply regrets the loss of its highly-esteemed member, Mr. Slawomir
Skrzypek.” He added that the ECB would remember Skrzypek “as a good
friend and a dedicated professional, who made valuable contributions to
the work of the General Council.”

The National Bank of Poland said Saturday that “the first deputy of
the president, Piotr Wiesiolek, is carrying out the duties of the
president of the NBP.”

“The National Bank of Poland is operating smoothly and implementing
all the statutory tasks of the central bank,” it added.

–Frankfurt bureau tel.: +49-69-720142. Email: dbarwick@marketnews.com

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