Polish data spat underlines growing concern over twin deficits

The recent spat over an apparent ‘black hole’ in the Polish/German trade balance ignores the fact that inconsistencies between bilateral trade balances are fairly common. But the large ‘net errors and omissions’ component of Poland’s balance of payments data is a much more serious concern and reinforces our view that the government must take steps to tackle the country’s twin current account and budget deficits if Poland is to retain its position as Central Europe’s star performer.