Poland’s economy remains one of the strongest in Europe in the face of the economic crisis at the Central Statistical Bureau (GUS) released numbers from the second quarter of 2009 showing a GDP growth of 1.1 percent.

GUS attributes the growth to foreign demand. “It is with our optimism that we infected international institutions and partners who helped, among other things, to […] work against the economic crisis,” stated Prmie Minister Donald Tusk in a press conference Friday.

Finance Minister Jacek Rostowski claims that these positive numbers show the merit of Poles who “did not panic in the face of predictions made not only by analysts, but also by many politicians.” Rostowski added that the jump in GDP is also a tribute to Polish industry that “knew to react calmly, flexibly and effectively, even in these unexpectedly difficult conditions.”

Both the PM and Finance Minister maintained that it is still necessary to prepare for the long-term effects of the economic crisis.

“We will fight with the long term effects of the economic crisis equally as effectively – as effectively and flexibly as we were able to combat the first dramatic and strong hits of this global recession,” maintained Rostowski.

The Warsaw Stock Exchange reacted favourably to the GDP statistics. The blue chip index WIG20 showed an immediate jump of 3.53 percent to 2292.99 points around midday. The general WIG index showed a 2.74 percent jump to 38,872.41 points.

Economist Richard Mbewe, however, told thenews.pl that it would be unwise to get carried away by all the talk of “the end of recession” which many media outlets have been trumpeting this week, after surprisingly robust retail sales figures were released by Poland’s statistical office.

“One banker told me this week that they would not be lending until the second quarter next year. So bad things are still coming to Poland.”