Nawrocki resubmits NBP board nominations to Tusk as board faces shortfall

A second request to the prime minister

President Karol Nawrocki has again sent Prime Minister Donald Tusk the decision appointing four people to the management board of the National Bank of Poland (NBP). Szefernaker said at a press conference on Friday, 16 October, that the president would resend the request, and on Monday, 19 October, he confirmed on X that the documents had gone back for countersignature. The four nominees are Marta Kightley, Przemysław Litwiniuk, Ludwik Kotecki and Marcin Zarzecki. The constitution requires the prime minister's signature, and Tusk returned the earlier documents without it in May.

What the board does

Under the NBP act, the board consists of the bank's president and six to eight members, including two deputy presidents, and members serve six-year terms. Szefernaker argued that the board determines how the interest rate set by the Monetary Policy Council (RPP) reaches the economy. He also said it decides in which currencies and where the state's reserves are held, and that it runs Sorbnet 2, the system through which banks settle with each other and with the state budget. According to him, every salary, pension and tax passes through that system. The board must also adopt the NBP's financial plan for 2027 before the end of this year.

Deadlines from November

The term of Adam Lipiński, the second deputy president, expires on 4 November, and the term of board member Marta Gajęcka is set to end on 1 January. Speaking on Friday, Szefernaker said the board would then have five members and fall below the statutory minimum from 5 November.

“This means that from 5 November the NBP board will have 5 members, which means it will operate below the statutory minimum.”

The main steps in the dispute, from February to the coming deadlines, are shown below.

The earlier refusal and the nominees

In February the president sent Tusk the decision appointing the four people to the board. In May, NBP reported that Tusk had returned those decisions without countersignature. Marta Kightley sat on the board from 2020 as deputy president, and her term ended in March 2026. NBP president Adam Glapiński asked for her reappointment, and media reports say the request reached the Chancellery of the Prime Minister in February. Ludwik Kotecki and Przemysław Litwiniuk have sat on the Monetary Policy Council since 2022, appointed by the Senate, and have not previously held board posts. Marcin Zarzecki is also a council member, named by the president in December 2025.

Political dispute and unofficial claims

Szefernaker accused the government of seeking political influence over monetary policy, control of the state's currency reserves and interest rates, and subordination of the central bank to a budget with holes in it. On Monday he wrote on X:

“The stability of the Polish economy requires a decision that rejects the logic of political war. Now everything is in the hands of the Prime Minister.”

The pro-presidential outlet wPolityce.pl, citing unofficial sources in the president's circle, claimed the real aim is access to the gold reserves built up under Glapiński. No official source is cited for that claim.