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Zloty Gains for First Time in 3 Days on Current-Account Surplus
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By Piotr Skolimowski

Aug. 12 (Bloomberg) -- The Polish zloty climbed against the euro for the first time in three days, posting the biggest gain among emerging-market currencies, after the country’s current- account showed a surplus for a fifth month in June.

The zloty appreciated as much as 1 percent to 4.1442, making it the best performer among 25 emerging-market currencies tracked by Bloomberg. It traded at 4.1473 per euro as of 5:45 p.m. in Warsaw.

The June surplus totaled 459 million euros ($650 million), compared with a deficit of 2.2 billion euros in the same month of 2008 and a revised 284 million euros in May, the central bank said. The median estimate of 12 economists surveyed by Bloomberg was for a surplus of 164 million euros in June.

“We think that the improvement in Poland’s balance of payments dynamics still should be zloty-supportive going forward,” Jonathan Pinder, an economist at Goldman Sachs International in London, wrote in a note to clients. “We currently forecast euro/zloty at 4 in three months.”

Poland’s current account will probably remain in surplus in “the coming months” because of an inflow of funds from the European Union, PAP newswire reported Jozef Sobota, the head of the central bank’s statistics department, as saying.

The zloty has rallied 18 percent from its five-year low on Feb. 17, more than any other currency in the region, amid speculation Poland will avoid a recession. The country’s economy was the only one among the European Union’s 10 eastern members to expand in the first quarter as tax cuts spurred consumer spending.

Forint Rebounds

The Hungarian forint recovered from the lowest level in 2 1/2 weeks after U.S. stocks rallied on speculation a recession in the world’s biggest economy is easing faster than previously thought, boosting investor appetite for higher-yielding assets.

The Hungary’s benchmark interest rate at 8.5 percent is tied for the European Union’s highest together with Romania’s. The forint gained 0.4 percent to 272.03 per euro. Romania’s leu traded unchanged at 4.2200 against the common currency.

The Czech koruna depreciated for a second consecutive day, the longest losing streak in a week. It lost 0.2 percent to 25.813 per euro.

To contact the reporter on this story: Piotr Skolimowski in Warsaw at [e-mail]
Last Updated: August 12, 2009 12:02 EDT

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