"Can you tell me how are we supposed to make a living?". Activist asks central bank chief and his wife

Agrounia, which is a conservative agrarianist political movement in Poland, published a video on Facebook on Saturday, showing an activist from the organisation stopping Poland's central bank chief Adam Glapiński and his wife, who were taking a walk in Sopot, and asking them questions.

"Can you tell sir how are we, the young people, supposed to make a living?" - the woman asked the head of the National Bank of Poland. She described the difficult financial situation she had found herself in despite working two jobs and running a business. "The loans are going up by 100%," she said.

The activist also said she had taken out a loan two years ago, to which the NBP chief replied the interest rates at the time had been very low. "For one and a half a year we had the lowest interest rates in history," he said.

"Take the vacation (the so-called credit vacation) now and for four months you will not be paying (monthly installments)," Glapiński said.

Earlier in July Poland’s parliament approved a law that will allow borrowers to temporarily suspend mortgage repayments without cost for four months this year and another four months next year. President Andrzej Duda ratified the legislation on July 14. Loan borrowers will be able to file requests for credit vacation starting August 1.

The woman then said she hoped her generation would not become "a lost generation". "I work actively in Agrounia and I will keep on working on behalf of farmers and weaker people," she added.

"Please be active, organise yourselves, (formulate) some demands. That's how democracy happens, when various ideas clash," Glapiński advised.

Asked if the young people would be able to makes ends meet and if they would have their apartments reposessed, the central bank chief replied: "Let's not exaggerate. I'm constantly watching how many credits are not being paid. So far, there's been no increase. Now you need take these four months of vacation, and then one month every quarter and the rates will be low again. Maybe in the last quarter of the next year we will already be lowering the interests rates".

Adam Glapiński's wife was also involved in the conversation.

According to Poland's central statistical agency Statistics Poland, inflation in June was at 15.5% year on year, which was the highest spike in over 25 years. Previously, inflation in Poland had been higher in March of 1997, and stood at 16.6%.

At the July's session, Poland's Monetary Policy Council increased the interest rates by 50 basis points. The central bank's benchmark reference rate has been raised to 6.50%. This is the highest level since August of 2004.