Andrzej Rzońca

Experience

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  Ministry of Finance of Poland

  Sept 1998 - Apr 2000

  Assistant to the Minister of Finance

  - a volunteer until November 1999.- created and managed a team of students working as volunteers for the Minister of Finance.- produced policy notes for the Minister of Finance on, e.g. tax system reforms, foreign direct investments, coal mining reform, privatization, changes in financing model of tertiary education.- participated in senior management meetings, recorded decisions made and prepared timetable for their implementation.- assisted the Minister of Finance during selected domestic as well as international events. Show less

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  CASE - Center for Social and Economic Research

  Sept 2000 - Dec 2001

  Research Assistant

  - supported the Advisory Group to the Government of Georgia by, e.g. collecting and cleansing data and drafting policy and meeting notes.

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  Erste Securities Polska S.A.

  Feb 2001 - Apr 2001

  Junior Consultant

  - supported the Head of Research by, e.g. collecting and cleansing data and drafting simple sectoral analyses.

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  PZU NFI Management

  Apr 2001 - Jun 2001

  Consultant

  - produced economic notes, mostly regular updates on growth outlook of Poland and simple sectoral analyses.

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  Narodowy Bank Polski

  Jul 2001 - Mar 2007

  Advisor to the President / Head of Division / Assistant to the President

  - proved a good sense of the economy (e.g. by correctly predicting the 2005 slowdown, as well as its very transient nature, or by identifying well in advance the risks associated with globally low interest rates.)- a member of the Macroeconomic Group, tasked with designing and evaluating the most important research conducted at the NBP, as well as with discussing its forecasting tools (it was then that the most tools were created, and the quality of forecasts improved so much that the central bank could start publishing its projections without fear that instead of strengthening they would weaken its credibility.)- produced analytical reports for the President, including regular updates on inflation and growth outlook of Poland.- reviewed reports (including NBP’s flagship Inflation report) produced by analytical departments in order to ensure their consistency and provide quality control on them. - organized the International Comparative Studies Division from scratch, managed it, and then supervised its work.- informally consulted the Hausner plan. - participated, as an expert, in all meetings of the MPC and the Management Board. - organized internships for central bank’s economists from other transition economies.- a member of the Economic Education Council at the NBP that supervised the most important projects of the NBP aimed at popularizing knowledge on economics.- participated in creating educational website for the NBP (www.NBPportal.pl).- coordinated preparation of main speeches of the President.- involved in the recruitment of economists to the NBP.- repeatedly awarded by the President for research activities.Close collaboration with the President during a challenging time of disinflation, preparations for Poland’s accession to the European Union and then post EU-accession boom taught me how to work and make decisions under high uncertainty and time pressure, and against political pressures. Show less

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  SGH Warsaw School of Economics

  Feb 2003 - now

  Head of Department/ Associate Professor / Adjunct Professor / Assistant Professor

  - chairing International Comparative Studies Department (founded by Leszek Balcerowicz, the father of Poland’s successful economic transition).- prepared economic analyses and presentations for leading advisory companies on M&A market in Poland.- conducted research, in particular, into economic growth, monetary policy, fiscal policy (taxes, sovereign debt), and labour market, focused on topics important for policy making.- published, inter alia, in "Journal of Economic Geography", "Economic Modelling", "Kyklos", "Applied Economics", "Fiscal Studies", "Economics", "German Economic Review", "Singapore Economic Review", "Economics of Transition" and "Post-Communist Economies".- author or co-author of 5 books, including one translated into English (and published by the World Bank) and Russian.- published in popular press, inclusive of “Financial Times”.- co-authored a report on growth prospects of the EU, invited by the Lisbon Council, a Brussels based think-tank.- prepared analyses for other reputable think-tanks (e.g. for Atlantic Council, Washington D.C.)- presented research internationally (e.g. in Brussels, Canberra, Florence, Frankfurt, Konstanz, Melbourne, Montreal, Mumbai, New York, Santiago de Chile, Sydney, Tel Aviv, Zurich.)- a keynote speaker at various events (e.g. First Polish Capital Market Day in New York.)- an expert at the National Science Centre (NCN) evaluating research projects.- lectured in advanced macroeconomics, growth theory, monetary economics, public finances and economic analysis of welfare state.- conducted PhD, MA and BSc seminars.- lecturer at CEMBA, a joint Executive MBA program of WSE and the University of Quebec at Montreal.- participated in the development of the program of European Master in Law and Economics in Poland.- a member of the first scientific board of the economics and finance at the Warsaw School of Economics; previously a member of the scientific board of the College of Economic Analysis at the WSE. Show less

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  European Central Bank

  Jan 2004 - Mar 2004

  Short-term Assignment in Research Division

  - conducted research into the effects of fiscal impulses.- published a paper on non-Keynesian effects of fiscal contraction in New Member States in the ECB Working Paper Series.

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  The World Bank

  Aug 2006 - Oct 2006

  Consultant

  - participated in a research into and contributed to the report on the impact of public finances on long-term economic growth in Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia (see: http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/372621468030613197/pdf/411740REVISED01PUBLIC1June029102007.pdf).

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  Forum Obywatelskiego Rozwoju (FOR Foundation)

  Jul 2007 - Dec 2009

  Vice President and the Chief Economist

  - built a research capacity of the think tank from scratch.- supervised all reports, papers and analyses issued by the think-tank. - conducted my own research into macroeconomic policy, structural reforms and economic growth. - co-authored several reports on fiscal and structural reforms needed for Poland (see: https://www.andrzejrzonca.com/raporty).- authored tens of economics-themed articles published in popular press (e.g. in “Financial Times” in December 2008, I sounded a warning, as one of the first economists, against fiscal imbalances in peripheral countries of the Eurozone.)- collaborated, inter alia with: the World Bank, Polish Confederation of Private Employers “Lewiatan”, PwC, Association of Listed Companies and the Association of Polish Economists. Show less

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  Totalizator Sportowy Sp. z o.o.

  Feb 2008 - Jun 2009

  Chair of Supervisory Board

  - stimulated the management board to increase sales (through, e.g. new motivation systems managed by objectives, KPIs, pro-sales organization structure, new standards development, refinements in geographical location of sales points, standardization and quality control of their services, product portfolio enhancement, adjustments in pricing policy, search of new sales channels.) - strictly controlled costs.- put pressure on the management board to build and execute a negotiation strategy with most important business partners.During my term, the company doubled its profits and increased sales by a quarter. It advanced by 10 ranks to the 20th position among the largest companies in Poland. Show less

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  Altus TFI (investment fund)

  Apr 2009 - Jan 2010

  Chief Economist

  - employed because of a strong ability to predict trends.- contributed to the fund development (which was then at its infancy) by correctly anticipating that policy of major central banks would be persistently extremely accommodative, while recovery after global financial crisis would be sluggish.

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  Narodowy Bank Polski

  Jan 2010 - Jan 2016

  Member of Monetary Policy Council

  - a decision maker responsible for monetary policy conducting (e.g. setting NBP interest rates, deciding on FX interventions or their lack etc.) appointed for a term of six years by the Polish Senate.- convinced MPC colleagues to extend the policy horizon, take into account the importance of financial stability for price stability, be more vigilant when inflation is above the target than below the target, and not be afraid of interest rate disparity. - inspired a lot of research to deepen understanding of monetary transmission mechanisms and improve NBP forecast accuracy. - awarded the Badge of Merit for Banking, the highest honour in the field of banking in Poland.Over my six-year term, Poland smoothly weathered through shocks caused by Global Financial Crisis, fiscal tensions in peripheral countries of Eurozone and hybrid war in Ukraine. In spite of those shocks, Poland was then among the most sustainable economies in the World with firmly anchored inflation expectations. We avoided imbalances that occurred in those emerging economies in which monetary authorities feared of raising interest rates in 2011-2012. We also stayed away from the "uncharted waters" of unconventional monetary policy (we decided only for a few months of "forward guidance", but exited from this unconventional measure without any loss of NBP credibility and long before other central banks). Show less

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  Forum Obywatelskiego Rozwoju (FOR Foundation)

  Apr 2016 - Apr 2017

  Chief Economic Advisor to the Council and Board

  - supervised research activity of the think tank. - participated in producing its main reports (e.g. on payment gridlocks, growth prospects and challenges ahead of Poland’s economy.)- coordinated main project teams (working e.g. on a complex tax reform.)- contributed to the organization of and lectured at ‘School of Leszek Balcerowicz’ which twice a year provides the most active students from across Poland with an opportunity to meet leading figures from economics, law, business and media. Show less

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  BNP Paribas TFI (investment fund)

  Aug 2016 - now

  Member of Supervisory Board

  - an independent member, the chairman of Audit Committee.- sharing my expertise on macro trends and risks in global and domestic economy.

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  Civic Platform

  Apr 2017 - Dec 2019

  Chief Economic Advisor

  - coordinated experts' teams that designed, inter alia:(1) a comprehensive tax reform including: a radical simplification of personal income tax and social security contributions; corporate income tax levied, like in Estonia, only on distributed profits (dividends, share buy-backs, capital reductions etc.), and not on retained and reinvested profits; a reduced CIT rate for fast-growing companies; and accelerated VAT repayments; (2) program to restore corporate governance in state owned enterprises, strengthen the rights of minority shareholders, and spread ownership among citizens through development of funded defined contribution pension plans;(3) program to liberalize and demonopolize the upstream sectors (energy and gas sectors);(4) mechanisms to stop ‘overproduction’ of regulations (such as one regulation in, two regulations out principle; tightened requirements related to the regulatory impact analysis);(5) further decentralization and new financing model of local governments (based on transfer of all income taxes to local governments and tax competition across them);(6) strengthening of fiscal rules so as to permanently lower sovereign debt and secure fiscal space.- participated in drafting laws that would lift all restrictions on economic freedom introduced by the Law and Justice, give private character to savings in open pension funds, promote silver economy, and encourage to start business activity early and delay exit from labour market. - carried out regulatory impact analysis for most projects considered by the Civic Platform leaders. Show less

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  A hedge fund

  Apr 2020 - now

  Macroeconomic Consultant

  - sharing my knowledge on Polish economy and CEE region.

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  A family office

  Sept 2020 - now

  Strategic Advisor

  - consulted on strategic decisions.- supervised selected investments.- participated in structuring funding of RES projects.- fostered relationships with banks. - coordinated works on strategies for two pillars of holding specialized in manufacture of basic metals and manufacture of metal products.- responsible for implementation of those strategies.- advised on financial models and projections.- designed an FX management policy.- evaluated targets for acquisition.- advised on structuring key staff incentives.- participated in setting KPIs and holding accountable for achieving them.- providing macroeconomic expertise needed, inter alia, in budgeting process.- contributed to price negotiation strategies and led selected price negotiations. Show less