Foreign Investment Slow in Poland

Poland’s foreign direct investment balance reached PLN 20.7 billion ($6.10 billion) in 2017–the lowest rate in years, according to data released by the National Bank. The figure is nearly 70% lower than in 2016. The Dziennik daily said that last year’s meager outcome boiled down to the fact that foreign branches based in Poland largely refrained from repatriating generated profits, Radio Poland reported. Additionally, a portion of foreign enterprises moved out of the country altogether due to the ruling Law and Justice party’s efforts to boost state control in the country’s banking and energy sectors. Last June, Polish state-run insurer PZU purchased a 32.8% stake in Bank Pekao from Italy’s UniCredit, rendering PZU “the largest financial group in Central and Eastern Europe,” the insurer said in a statement. The country’s $471 billion economy is set to remain one of the quickest developing in Europe this year, amid billions of euros of inflows of EU aid, Investment and Development Minister Jerzy Kwiecinski said recently.