Poland is in the “final stage of negotiations” with two global banks on moving some of their operations to the eastern European country, according to Deputy Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki.

“We talk to many international and financial institutions about moving not only their back-office functions, but also front-office and middle-office functions,” Morawiecki said on Friday in an interview in Washington, declining to identify the lenders. “We like it a lot because it’s a win-win for those companies and for us as well.”

Poland’s lower costs, a skilled workforce and its European Union membership are drawing banks amid competition for jobs set to move away from London. JPMorgan Chase & Co. said last month it will hire at least 3,000 people within three years for a new hub in Warsaw, joining other foreign banks such as UBS Group AG and Goldman Sachs Group Inc.

Growth in the EU’s largest eastern economy is set to accelerate this year to the fastest since 2011. After investment slumped 7.9 percent last year, it will gain “around 5 percent” in 2017 and may jump 6 to 7 percent in 2018, according to Morawiecki. Next year’s budget deficit is going to be far below the EU’s ceiling of 3 percent of gross domestic product, he said.

Given that the economy in Poland is “more vibrant” than in the neighboring euro area, the zloty will probably strengthen over the longer term, Morawiecki said. Meanwhile, the government wants to be “less dependent” on fluctuations in the exchange rate and is looking to decrease its issuance of foreign-currency bonds, he said.

“We’ll be present on this market too, but less than in previous years because we would like to be as prudent as possible,” Morawiecki said. “These are uncertain times, so we build different buffers for security, for prudence and for debt safety.”

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by Olga Tanas and Dorota Bartyzel

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