Consolidation, Privatization and Nationalization of the Polish Banking Sector

In Central and Eastern European countries, a prominent feature of the banking sector has been domination by foreign banks. In recent years, however, some countries in Central and Eastern Europe have seen a decline in the share of foreign-owned banks as the banking sector has become more integrated. In Poland, the share of state-owned banks has been rising, in contrast to the privatization trend from the 1990s to the early 2000s. This paper provides an overview of this consolidation of the Polish banking sector.