„We are not used to dealing with success in Poland,” thinks Ludwik Sobolewski, head of the Warsaw Stock Exchange. As a member of the panel 'Heart of the Polish economy: the capital market as Poland’s competitive advantage' he ensured that after privatisation all discussions regarding the Warsaw Stock Exchange will come to an end. The stock exchange has been prepared for sale for a few years now. However, the concept of its privatisation has frequently been subject to change. A strategic investor has been mentioned a few times, it is finally to have its IPO, and its prospectus has been prepared.
„Now, experts are busy wondering what the influence of the stock exchange is on the economy and whether the stock exchange contributes to GDP growth,” Sobolewski explained. The European Union's budget Commissioner Janusz Lewandowski admitted that at present the Warsaw trading floor resembles a book-like model of stock exchange development even thought the situation has been somewhat different. The joyful atmosphere was marred by Sławomir Lachowski, owner of SL Consulting, who stated that only 5% of household savings are invested in shares, whereas 47% are invested in bank deposits. Jarosław Myjak, Vice President of PKO BP, shared this point of view and pointed out that even though the deposits in banks increased from 264 billion Zloties in 2007 to 396 billion Zloties now, the money invested in shares still amounts to 30-33 billion Zloties.
Therefore, a question is raised: how can this situation be changed? Maybe it is a good idea to decrease taxes, which would allow one to leave more money in the taxpayers” pocket. The problem is that the government is increasing taxes right now. „However, it does not interfere with tax reviews and analysing the consequences of levying taxes in general,” explained Michał Boni, head of the team of Prime Minister’s advisors. „When the right moment comes, we will be ready for a debate and possible changes”.
