Marek Belka

Marek Marian Belka (Polish pronunciation: [ˈmarɛk ˈbɛlka] (listen); born 9 January 1952) is a Polish professor of Economics and politician, has served as a Prime Minister of Poland and Finance Minister of Poland in two governments. Former Director of the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) European Department and former Head of Narodowy Bank Polski (National Bank of Poland).[1] He has served as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) since July 2019.

Marek Belka MEP
President of the National Bank of Poland
In office 11 June 2010 – 20 June 2016
President	Bronisław Komorowski (Acting) Bogdan Borusewicz (Acting) Grzegorz Schetyna (Acting) Bronisław Komorowski Andrzej Duda
Prime Minister	Donald Tusk Ewa Kopacz Beata Szydło
Preceded by	Piotr Wiesiołek (Acting)
Succeeded by	Adam Glapiński
11th Prime Minister of Poland
In office 2 May 2004 – 31 October 2005
President	Aleksander Kwaśniewski
Deputy	Jerzy Hausner Izabela Jaruga-Nowacka
Preceded by	Leszek Miller
Succeeded by	Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz
Deputy Prime Minister of Poland Minister of Finance
In office 19 October 2001 – 6 July 2002
Prime Minister	Leszek Miller
Preceded by	Halina Wasilewska-Trenker
Succeeded by	Grzegorz Kołodko
In office 4 February 1997 – 17 October 1997
Prime Minister	Włodzimierz Cimoszewicz
Preceded by	Grzegorz Kołodko
Succeeded by	Leszek Balcerowicz
Minister of Sport Acting
In office 1 September 2005 – 31 October 2005
Prime Minister	Himself
Preceded by	Position established
Succeeded by	Tomasz Lipiec
Personal details
Born	Marek Marian Belka (1952-01-09) 9 January 1952 Łódź, Poland
Political party	Polish United Workers' Party (1973–1990) Democratic Left Alliance (1999–2005) Independent (1990–1999, 2005–present)
Spouse(s)	Krystyna Belka
Children	2
Education	University of Łódź
Awards

In 1978–1979 and 1985–1986 he did scientific internships at Columbia University and University of Chicago, and in 1990 - London School of Economics. From 1986, he was associated with Institute of Economics of the Polish Academy of Sciences. He published over 100 scientific papers devoted mainly to money theory and anti-inflation policy in developing countries. He specializes in applied economics and contemporary economic thought. He is also a member of Committee of Economic Sciences of the Polish Academy of Sciences.

He held a number of important public functions in the country and abroad. In 1990 he became an advisor and consultant at Ministry of Finance, followed by the Ministry of Ownership Transformations and the Central Planning Office. In the years 1994–1996 he was the vice-chairman of the Council of Socio-Economic Strategy at the Council of Ministers, and then economic advisor to the President of the Republic of Poland Aleksander Kwaśniewski. In 1996 he became a consultant World Bank. He was twice Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Poland and Minister of Finance: in 1997 in Cabinet of Włodzimierz Cimoszewicz and in 2001–2002 in Cabinet of Leszek Miller. In 2004–2005 Prime Minister and chairman Committee for European Integration, and in 2005 Minister of Sport in his own government .

From 2006 executive secretary of the UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), and from November 2008 director of the European Department International Monetary Fund. Previously, he was also the head of the coalition Council for International Coordination in Iraq (2003), and then the director of economic policy in the Provisional Coalition Authority in Iraq, where he answered, among others for currency reform, creation of a new banking system and supervision of the economy (2003-2004).

He was appointed president of the National Bank of Poland. He took office on 11 June 2010 and ended his term on 21 June 2016. In January 2011, he was elected for a three-year term (extended for another three years in 2014) to Steering Committee European Systemic Risk Board. Belka ran for and was elected an MEP at the 2019 European Parliament election.

Early life and education

Belka graduated from the Socio-Economic Department of the University of Łódź in 1972 and later studied on scholarships at Columbia University, University of Chicago and London School of Economics. He holds an M.A. in economics of foreign trade and a PhD in economics from the University of Łódź;[2] his thesis was on US anti-inflationary policy.[3] He became a professor in 1994.

Early career

From 1990 until 1996 Belka worked as consultant for the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Poland and the World Bank. He served as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance in 1997 and from 2001 to 2002; and as an economic consultant of the President of the Republic of Poland in the meantime. He also served as Adviser to the three successive Prime Ministers of Albania – Fatos Nano, Pandeli Majko and Ilir Meta – from 1997 to 2001.

Later, Belka worked as an advisor to JP Morgan for Central and Eastern Europe from 2002 to 2003. In 2003 he was responsible for economic policy in the interim Coalition Provisional Authority of Iraq.

Political career

He was active in the Polish Students' Association and the Polish Socialist Youth Union. From 1973 to 1990 he was a member of the Polish United Workers' Party.[4] In the 1980s he was the first secretary of the Polish United Workers' Party at the University of Łódź.[5]

Belka was designated Prime Minister of Poland by President Aleksander Kwaśniewski on 29 March 2004 and sworn into office the next 2 May. He failed to receive the required parliamentary support on 14 May, but on 11 June he was designated again. On 24 June he finally managed to receive enough support in the Sejm – the Lower House of Polish Parliament – winning a vote of confidence by a majority of 235 votes to 215.

Belka joined the new liberal Democratic Party - demokraci.pl in May 2005, but failed to win a seat in Łódź in the 2005 elections. Also in 2005, he was a candidate for the post of OECD Secretary General, but lost to José Ángel Gurría.

From 2006 to 2008, Belka served as Executive Secretary of the UN Economic Commission for Europe(ECE).[6]

In 2007, Belka was proposed by Poland as managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), but the European Union (EU) finally decided to advance former French minister Dominique Strauss-Kahn's candidacy.

On 15 July 2008, Strauss-Kahn named Belka as Director of the IMF's European Department, a position Belka took up on 1 November 2008.[7][8] In this capacity, he led the fund's response to the global economic crisis in Europe.[9]

On 27 May 2010 Belka was nominated as the next President of the National Bank of Poland by Acting President Bronisław Komorowski.[10] On 10 June 2010, he was approved by the Parliament (253 votes in favor; 184 against) as Head of National Bank of Poland.

In June 2014, the Polish magazine Wprost published a series of transcripts of secret recordings involving senior Polish government officials, including one in which Belka discussed the forthcoming 2015 election with the interior minister Bartłomiej Sienkiewicz.[11] Belka said he would not resign over the remarks he is alleged to have made. The secret recordings were believed to have been made in one or more restaurants in the capital, Warsaw, and thought to date back as far as Summer 2013.[12]

In 2016, news media reported that Belka was considering taking up the role of the head of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).[13]

Member of the European Parliament, 2019-present

In the 2019 European Parliament election Belka was elected as the MEP for the Łódź constituency. In Parliament, he has since been serving on the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs. In addition to his committee assignments, Belka is a member of the delegation for relations with the United States. He is also a member of the URBAN Intergroup.[14]

Other activities

Unveiling a bronze sculpture (Galeria Chwały Polskiej Ekonomii) by himself, Warsaw Stock Exchange, March 2014

International organizations

• European Investment Bank (EIB), Member of the Appointment Advisory Committee (since 2017)[15]
• European Systemic Risk Board (ESRB), Member of the Steering Committee (2011-2016)[16]
• European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), Ex-Officio Member of the Board of Governors (2010-2016)[17]
• Joint World Bank-IMF Development Committee, Chairman (2011-2015)[16]
• European Bank Coordination Initiative (EBCI, Vienna Initiative 2), Chairman of the Steering Committee (2013-2016)[16]

Corporate boards

• Echo Polska Properties, Independent Member of the Board of Directors (since 2016)[18]
• Bank Millennium, Member of the Supervisory Board (2002-2004)
• LOT Polish Airlines, Chairman of the Board of Directors (2002-2003)

Non-profit organizations

• Berggruen Institute, Member of the Council for the Future of Europe[19]
• Trilateral Commission, Member of the European Group[20]
• Polish-American Freedom Foundation, Member of the Board of Directors (2000-2010)

Recognition

Belka received an Honorary Doctorate from Heriot-Watt University in 2006.[21]

Belka is an Honorary Member of the International Raoul Wallenberg Foundation. In October 2013 he was elected into the Polish Economy Hall of Fame.[22]

Personal life

Belka is married and has two children. The family lives in Łódź.[3]

References

1. "Belka szefem NBP. Spór w koalicji – Wiadomości w Onet.pl". Wiadomosci.onet.pl. Archived from the original on 13 June 2010. Retrieved 4 June 2011.
2. "Marek Belka". Nndb.com. Retrieved 4 June 2011.
3. Annie Maccoby Berglof (4 July 2014), Poland’s central bank chief Marek Belka on crises and secret tapes Financial Times.
4. "Marek Belka - lewoskrzydłowy liberał". wyborcza.pl. Retrieved 8 January 2020.
5. "Nie jestem drugim Balcerowiczem". Przegląd (in Polish). 29 October 2001. Retrieved 8 January 2020.
6. United Nations Web Services Section. "The Biography of Marek Belka". United Nations. Archived from the original on 5 February 2009. Retrieved 4 June 2011.
7. "Press Release: IMF Managing Director Strauss-Kahn Names Former Polish Prime Minister Marek Belka as Director of the European Department". Imf.org. 15 July 2008. Retrieved 4 June 2011.
8. "Marek Belka « iMFdirect – The IMF Blog". Blog-imfdirect.imf.org. Retrieved 4 June 2011.
9. Jan Cienski (28 May 2010), Ex-PM to become Poland’s central bank chief Financial Times.
10. jagor, PAP, IAR (27 May 2010). "Komorowski: Marek Belka kandydatem na prezesa NBP". Wiadomosci.gazeta.pl. Archived from the original on 22 May 2011. Retrieved 4 June 2011.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
11. BBC News (June 2014). "Poland leak: PM Tusk faces questions in parliament", BBC News, 24 June 2014. Accessed 28 July 2014.
12. Easton, Adam (June 2014). On the recordings Belka was caught coordinating monetary policy with the current government, an act expressly forbidden by the Polish Constitution which mandates the NBP remain politically independent. "Poland bugging: The table talk that shook Warsaw", BBC News, 25 June 2014. Accessed 28 July 2014.
13. Marcin Goclowski (24 February 2016), Poland's c.bank chief Belka considers EBRD job -minister Reuters.
14. Members URBAN Intergroup.
15. Appointment of the Members of the Appointment Advisory Committee European Investment Bank (EIB), press release of 6 February 2017.
16. Marek Belka, Visiting Professor in Practice, Institute of Global Affairs London School of Economics.
17. 2011 Annual Report European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).
18. Marek Belka joins Echo Polska Properties as Independent Non-Executive Director Echo Polska Properties, press release of 10 August 2016
19. Council for the Future of Europe Berggruen Institute.
20. Membership Trilateral Commission.
21. "Annual Review 2006 : People, Honours and Awards". www1.hw.ac.uk. Archived from the original on 13 April 2016. Retrieved 30 March 2016.
22. Information with fotos at the NBP website (in Polish)

External links

• Marsh, David, "Poles won’t reject euro, but won’t rush to join", MarketWatch, 22 October 2012.

Political offices
Preceded by Grzegorz Kołodko	Minister of Finance 1997	Succeeded by Leszek Balcerowicz
Preceded by Halina Wasilewska-Trenkner	Minister of Finance 2001–2002	Succeeded by Grzegorz Kołodko
Preceded by Leszek Miller	Prime Minister of Poland 2004–2005	Succeeded by Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz
Government offices
Preceded by Piotr Wiesiołek Acting	President of the National Bank 2010–2016	Succeeded by Adam Glapiński