Polish banks asked to offer higher interest rates

WARSAW, Poland : As Poland's main interest rate remains at its highest level since 2008, helping to boost the profits of Polish banks, the nation's banks have been asked to offer higher interest on their deposits or face higher taxes.

The leader of Poland's ruling party, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, has announced that the banking sector is under pressure to share the benefits of rising rates with savers.

In a country where floating rate mortgages are the norm, the high interest rate has squeezing household budgets.

I do not want to decide for the bankers, but it must be a solid percentage, not at the level of inflation, but enough for people to feel that this money will lose much less value when it is in the bank, Kaczynski said during a speech in the eastern city of Bialystok.

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki has previously criticized banks for not offering savers enough interest, and said in May he would use persuasion to make banks offer more money back to customers.