Polish Zloty

• Country: Poland
• Currency: Zloty
• Alias: Polish zloty
• ISO 4217 CODES: PLN/985
• Symbol: z dashed l

The Polish zloty – or “golden” – has existed in various forms since the 15th century, but has not consistently served as the national currency since that time. The present form of the currency – known as the New Polish zloty – has been in circulation since 1995. Poland’s economy has grown steadily since the country emerged from underneath the shadow of the former Soviet Union, and industrial output continues to rise. Privatization of major industries is also helping to bolster the value of the zloty. Inflation dropped to as low as 1.9% in 2004, and significant foreign investment has brightened the country’s outlook. As a member of the European Union since 2004, Poland will eventually transition to the euro as its national currency.

Background of the Polish Zloty

The Republic of Poland has a long history dating back more than a millennium. In spite of being invaded by Germany in 1939 and being relegated to a repressed existence as a Soviet Bloc country in the decades following World War II, Poland’s industrial and agricultural output has remained the envy of many of its neighboring countries.

The zloty had been in use during the “period of partitions” from 1795 to 1918, during which Poland was subdivided by numerous political powers. In the wake of World War I, Poland resumed its independence in 1918 and adopted the Polish mark as its national currency. In 1924, the zloty resumed its role as the national currency, pegged to the value of the Swiss franc. Under German occupation during World War II, the zloty was superceded to a large extent by the German Reichmark, but the zloty returned as a national currency in 1944.

The National Bank of Poland was founded in 1945 under the auspices of the Minister of the Treasury. While under the influence of the Soviet Union for the next four decades, the zloty became a currency that was only valid within Poland, and hence, it was non-convertible. Up until the early 1980s, the majority of zloty coins were still being minted in Leningrad or St. Petersburg. Poland briefly returned to the international spotlight in 1978, when the Bishop of Kraków, Karol Wojtyla, was elected to serve as Pope of the Catholic Church, assuming the name John Paul II.

The rise of the Solidarity party in the late 1980s and the election of a new Solidarity-led government in 1990 marked the beginning of a transition to a market economy. The zloty became fully convertible with Western currencies on January 1, 1990, and the collapse of the former Soviet Union in 1991 helped to remove any remaining restraints on Poland’s potential for growth. In 1995, the zloty was redenominated, an event remembered by citizens as “the subsequent removal of the four zeroes.”

Many major industries that were once government-owned have now been privatized, and foreign investment in Poland continues to grow. In 2004 and 2005, major global marketers such as LG Philips, Hewlett-Packard, Gillette and IBM have all made significant investments in Poland. The government has also made significant strides in recent years to eliminate widespread corruption dating back to the country’s years under Soviet domination.

Poland joined the European Union in 2004, and the zloty entered the European Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM) II in preparation for the country’s eventual transition to the euro as its standard currency.

The zloty is divided into 100 groszy. Denominations for coins are 1g, 2g, 5g, 10g, 20g, 50g, 1z, 2z, and 5z. Denominations for notes are 10z, 20z, 50z, 100z and 200z.