With elections billed for the second half of this year, banks become more and more reluctant to lend money to politicians, who in fiscal terms become less trustworthy before elections.

As a number of politicians will lose their mandate at the end of the parliamentary term, banks are weary about handing out loans, as it has been reported that a number of MPs have trouble finding work after leaving the Sejm lower house.

“Banks survive from handing out credit, but the money comes other people. An uncompromising priority for banks is security,” Przemyslaw Barbrich from the Union of Polish Banks told the Rzeczpospolita daily, adding, however that Polish banks do not separate MPs from other professions in credit rating analyses.

However, Waclaw Martyniuk, a politician from the ruling Civic Platform laments at the fact that banks are reluctant to issue MPs with credit cards or loans, saying that it is a reflection of how politicians are regarded on the job market.

“If the political class would work hard to make a name for itself on the market so that it [its members] are sought after following their departure from the Sejm, the situation would be different,” Martyniuk muses in Rzeczpospolita. (jb)