The Polish financial system passed the test of operational capacity very well after the pandemic broke out, and moreover it supported government programs. The pandemic was an opportunity to jump into digitalization.Now it is showing its operational capacity by opening up to refugees from Ukraine.

Central banks have had two different approaches to inflation. The European Central Bank, which has kept rates "below zero," has acted differently, and banks in countries such as the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland, where interest rates have risen sharply, have acted differently. I'm not sure that such an aggressive response to inflation was appropriate.

In a high inflation environment, the first thing is to protect the most vulnerable. It's about two areas of this protection, the protection of those who have less ability to absorb the shock and of those who have less income. This will bring social benefits, but also economic benefits, because in this way we protect consumption.

The Finance Ministry is aware that increasing public spending may delay the descent of inflation to more acceptable levels, which is why we intend to take a very cautious approach to new spending here. (...) I hope that non-standard spending - to help refugees, to help fight high prices - will decrease in the next few years, which will allow us to go below the 50% of GDP ratio with public debt, which will be one of the better results in the EU.

We want to build a Ukraine that is capable of succeeding and entering the European Union. For this, we need adherence to European values and the support of European institutions. It is very important to build decentralized, independent institutions in Ukraine. This process will take decades, but the European lesson must be implemented today.

It is worth developing a system of incentives for the private sector to want to join in the reconstruction of Ukraine. If we create good regulations for the operation of private companies and give them support in the form of capital aid, they will certainly take an active part in the reconstruction of Ukraine devastated by the war.

Ukraine has tremendous economic potential and was heading in the right direction before the war, but there was still a lot of work to be done in the area of governance of the country and countering such negative phenomena as corruption, among others. Rebuilding Ukraine cannot be just about financing, it should be a combination of finance and reform.

We are now ready to continue the reforms begun before the war. Ukrainians managed to quickly reorganize local government. Today this part of government is showing its effectiveness. The banking sector has been restructured, so that even in a war-torn country, banks are operating uninterruptedly, and are a vital support for companies and people. We have shown the world that we are united and democratic. (...)Ukraine needs a reconstruction plan coordinated by a single player. I would prefer this coordinator to be the European Commission

The plan for the reconstruction of Ukraine must be worked out by Ukraine, this is crucial. This will be the most interesting reconstruction project. We can unite the European Union in the project. The signal of candidate state status is essential.

It is necessary to talk about security. If security gets to the top of our discussions, it will open the door to the European Union for Ukraine. (...)I would advise creating a kind of "club of friends of Ukraine", as soon as possible, necessarily with the US and international financial institutions.

As the European Union, we can best respond to the geopolitical crisis from a position of our own strength. We need to build our economic resilience, which can be supported by financial services. We can do more in many areas to strengthen our economy and our financial system.

The current situation in the economy is not a short-term phenomenon. We are talking about at least a decade of turmoil. If Europe does not change its economic strategy during this decade, it will lose its leadership position in the world economy. We are approaching the end of the era of globalization. We are moving into the era of regionalization - Europe, China, India and the US are the leaders.

Innovation is a crucial tool in building social inclusion, as it creates the potential for the entire community to develop the economy, not just the inventors and patent holders.

In the digital space it’s possible for Poland to be amongst the top 10 tech markets.

COVID triggered a massive cash to card migration, while our merchants began intensively looking for new terminals and quickly adapting to contact-less solutions.

Decision-makers often tell me that they want to have a high number of patents and start-ups, as a way of developing the economy but when I ask them why they think it is a good strategy, they usually have no answer.

In 2017 there were five unicorns in Eastern Europe, now there are 31 – this shows our potential in terms of digital innovation.

The biggest discovery with COVID was that the users are ready for the digital interphases. Not only in finance, but in all other areas of life.

Managing people and teams through the pandemic was a challenge which stimulated the growth of great tech talents.

My book was dedicated to affect the decision-making process of local leaders, be it business or administration, because it is on this level that real innovation takes place and has the potential to strengthen the entire community.

We’re observing that incumbents do very well at the early start-up stage of development, they circumvent carriers and go straight to the insurers.

I think we’re observing revolution in the area where previously was saw evolution – in terms of what’s happening in fintechs

With COVID we saw an enormous trend of insurers moving to the digital, shifting from thousands of agents to clients acquiring policies on their own, from the comfort of their homes.

Poland is the key country of Central Europe. Without prosperity of Poland, the region will not prosper. It is both an opportunity and a kind of responsibility of Poland to the region.

If the authorities have to intervene every ten years to support the financial sector the public opinion will not accept it and the democracy will be at risk.

Inflation is getting closer to the target but wages are surprisingly low even though employment has been growing. That is something we do not quite understand. So there is a certain amount of uncertainty about how sustainable the inflation is.

Solidarity in the political world means that we stand together and help each other. If things get serious, if there is a common threat, we also fight for the security of each other. (…) It would be extremely irresponsible if we let the European Union break up. I see no alternative to the Union. But we have to properly respond to the needs of citizens.

We should continue to be interested in a good relationship with Russia but it cannot be based on illusions. International boundaries should not be redrawn by force. Why is the existence of the European Union a problem for Russia’s political ambitions? It is because the European Union is founded on values. (…) In what shape will the European Union be in ten years? Will it still exist? Of course, it will. Why? Because Europeans will understand that it is in their common interest. Surviving a number of crises does not make us weaker. On the contrary, it makes us stronger.

Regulations imposing restrictions on financial markets will not ensure stability. The markets will find a way around them anyway. What we have to strive for is better transparency of the markets. If we fail, this could possibly lead to another crisis. The world of finance lacks transparency so much that even investors have little understanding of today’s sophisticated investment instruments.

There are two areas where more progress is necessary for proper allocation of risk. Both concern the possibility to absorb economic shocks in the European Union. These shocks can be absorbed either by the markets, which requires better integration of financial markets, for example by way of establishing the banking union and the capital markets union, or through fiscal channels.

It will be essential for both investors and banks to have certainty on the overall level of capital requirements and the application of the new resolution framework. In this respect, consistent implementation of the minimum requirement for own funds and eligible liabilities across the EU and implementation of total loss absorbing capacity in the common EU framework will both be of great importance.

The policy of inviting immigrants to Europe was not a demonstration of solidarity, but rather a classic instance of violating Europe's external borders and weakening control of those borders. How can we talk about Europe if we cannot talk about European borders? (…) Unfortunately there is another threat, even more dangerous, which is the idea of ever-closer Union. This is a recipe for disaster. Most Europeans do not support this idea.

One way of dealing with the threats stemming from the financial system is to raise capital requirements – for everyone, and especially for institutions that are systemically important. Having capital requirements which are too low is certainly partly the fault of those responsible for supervision. That mistake is slowly being corrected. (...) But it’s not only the amount of capital that counts, it’s also quality, perhaps above all quality. Various types of hybrid capital are like an airbag which always works except when there’s an accident. When losses are big, it turns out the capital doesn’t provide effective coverage.

Bank financing is quite good for catch-up growth. Start-up innovators need developed capital markets, they need funding that does not come only from the banking channel. Capital Markets Union’s agenda should find a right balance to serve these different needs.(…) Now you see a lot of lobbying by banks who say: We do not want competition from other channels of financing the real economy.

The fact that ECB’s active monetary policy was effective in bringing the European economy out of stagnation does not mean that it will be equally effective in future crises. (...) The next step in rendering the euro area more efficient should be the establishment of mechanisms of common fiscal policy and not merely avoidance of excessively lax policy by individual countries, but also creation of common policy that would be expansive in troubled times and restrictive in good times.

Geopolitics is back. We have to reduce our energy dependency on Russian gas and oil. We have to create a common European energy union. It would be the most powerful answer from the strategic point of view.

If we speak about Europe, there is also a national responsibility. We have to implement structural reforms at the national level. The macro-economic imbalances should be pursued much tougher than it has been done so far by the European Commission.

The Single Supervisory Mechanism and the Single Resolution Mechanism are sufficiently attractive for the noneuro EU member states and early entry into the Banking Union will be beneficial for the non-euro member states like Poland.

We seem to be coming out of that period of greatest recession in Europe.One of the things that are important is to have the self-discipline to rein back some of the investment projects (...) not piling on more and more.

The key pillar of our financial stability policy is development of robust market infrastructure for effective liquidity and credit allocation while promoting greater diversification of risks.

Introduction of two different regimes of supervision and ban resolution, one for the banks operating in the euro area and the other for banks operating outside the euro area, may tilt the playing field in favour of the banks in the euro area.

Private investors are finding it increasingly difficult to engage in long-term and large-scale projects. This is due to the risk profile of these projects. The "Polish Investments" programme has been launched to tackle such problems.

What we do in Brussels is sometimes regarded as excessive regulation of the economy. After what has happened since 2008, I do not think that we can still believe in self-regulation. Regulations must be in part imposed from the top.

The capital holders should contribute adequately to the cost of rescue or restructuring to limit the aid and the cost to taxpayer.

One of the errors that has been made was the financial promise that in the long term we can live on returns on capital that are higher than the average rate of growth.

We need fiscal consolidation. Fiscal consolidation is not an end in itself. While fiscal consolidation is a precondition of growth, it itself is not sufficient. The debate is not austerity vs growth. It is about austerity and growth. We need both.

The problem with Europe is that it is not just government debt, it is the intertwining of government and financial, banking and insurance companies, debt that actually causes the problem. And then it is the problem that it is not just the banks of the country [...] it is banks in other countries that are linked, notably including the European Central Bank itself. The Maastricht criteria were strictly faulty. They focused far too much on public sector debt, which in many cases [...] was not the problem [...], the problem was private sector debt, particularly banking debt, and the bubble within the private sector [...], and the current account deficit.

Policy makers did not really try to address the underlying causes. Instead, they sort of reacted to what the market had done and step by step put in more money, and it became a very unfortunate game for tax payers.

Money should flow easily to where it is needed. The EU (…) gives banks the right resources and flexibility to channel funds effectively to businesses and households. (…) Both green and digital transitions will be important elements in our economic recovery.

We protect the development potential of companies, we try to calibrate the amount of aid (...) The debt crisis in the corporate sector may result in numerous bankruptcies. The state will have to take over part of the corporate sector debt. There is no other way.

The biggest challenge at the moment is the future after the crisis. (…) Significant funds are planned to make up for the distance lost during the pandemic.(...) The EC’s priorities are still relevant - Green Deal, digitisation and new technologies will be financed.

Monetary policy is not designed for banks – banks have to adapt. (…) Adapting means having a business model which is compatible with diversified activities, to have a business model which is based more on commission than interest rates and to have a business model which is cost-effective.

Environmentally-driven stimuli are likely to be more effective at creating jobs and aiding economic recovery than traditional measures.

I believe central banks will have to be even more open-minded, creative, flexible and visionary than before. (…) Central banks should in the short-run treat inflation not as public enemy number one, but as a basic economic-adjustment mechanism.

Climate change can trigger a new crisis, just as severe as the corona pandemic. Climate change is a threat to financial stability, but it is also a threat to price stability. (…) Central banks have an important role to play in fighting climate change.

We have relaunched a bond-purchasing program for corporates. Corporates can issue corporate bonds (…) if they get a B+ rating, the Central Bank of Hungary will buy up to 70% of the bonds which are issued by Hungarian companies.

Central banks can do much more than just care about stability of prices and financial stability. The ECB should actually finance budget deficits directly by monetary financing.

The federal at the European level cannot take over the essential functions of the government, but (…) if a member country is hit by a major shock, the Union as a whole is willing to help (…) It’s no longer everybody for himself and refusal to help the others. We are seeing a beginning of a practical financial solidarity.

There is an open question as to the efficacy of direct payments versus loan guarantees in creating and sustaining a sharper recovery. The post-COVID debt overhang can obstruct recovery and limit countries’ growth prospects.

Money should flow easily to where it is needed. The EU (…) gives banks the right resources and flexibility to channel funds effectively to businesses and households. (…) Both green and digital transitions will be important elements in our economic recovery.

We protect the development potential of companies, we try to calibrate the amount of aid (...) The debt crisis in the corporate sector may result in numerous bankruptcies. The state will have to take over part of the corporate sector debt. There is no other way.

The biggest challenge at the moment is the future after the crisis. (…) Significant funds are planned to make up for the distance lost during the pandemic.(...) The EC’s priorities are still relevant - Green Deal, digitisation and new technologies will be financed.

Monetary policy is not designed for banks – banks have to adapt. (…) Adapting means having a business model which is compatible with diversified activities, to have a business model which is based more on commission than interest rates and to have a business model which is cost-effective.

I believe central banks will have to be even more open-minded, creative, flexible and visionary than before. (…) Central banks should in the short-run treat inflation not as public enemy number one, but as a basic economic-adjustment mechanism.

Climate change can trigger a new crisis, just as severe as the corona pandemic. Climate change is a threat to financial stability, but it is also a threat to price stability. (…) Central banks have an important role to play in fighting climate change.

Central banks can do much more than just care about stability of prices and financial stability. The ECB should actually finance budget deficits directly by monetary financing.

The federal at the European level cannot take over the essential functions of the government, but (…) if a member country is hit by a major shock, the Union as a whole is willing to help (…) It’s no longer everybody for himself and refusal to help the others. We are seeing a beginning of a practical financial solidarity.