Please be informed that the results of the European stress tests initiated and coordinated by the European Banking Authority (EBA) are now available. 

The stress test exercise covered 70 key banks operating in the EU and Norway, accounting for about 75% of total assets of the banking sector, based on projections set at the highest level of consolidation in the EU. Two Polish banks participated in the EBA stress test exercise: PKO Bank Polski S.A. and Pekao S.A. The banks’ projections covered a three-year time horizon (2023–2025), applying a static balance sheet assumption as of December 2022, and therefore did not take into account the adaptation of business strategies and management actions to a crisis.

The exercise used two macro-economic scenarios – developed in cooperation of the ECB, ESRB and other central banks in the EU – under which the banks were required to submit their projections:

• the baseline scenario,
• the adverse scenario, reflecting the materialisation of the risks identified.

For more information about the stress test results, please visit the EBA website.

Situation of the Polish banking sector

During the last quarters, the situation of the Polish banking sector has been stable. Banks are restoring profitability, which is still strongly affected by the legal risk arising from the portfolio of foreign currency housing loans. The UKNF monitors and analyses the situation in the sector and in individual banks on a current basis.

The consistent and conservative dividend policy established by the UKNF and applied by banks has allowed the accumulation of appropriate capital buffers, which ensure the stable functioning of banks even during crises (the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the outbreak of the war in Ukraine) exacerbated by the adverse scenario.