Polish monetary unit is called złoty (zł, PLN). 1 złoty is divided into 100 groszy (gr.) The banknotes come at 200, 100, 50 and 10 zloty, and coins in 5, 2 and 1 zloty, and 50, 20, 10, 5, 2 and 1 groszy. Currency can be exchanged in banks or exchange points ("kantor"). Credit cards are widely accepted in Poland, but small shops and newsagents in smaller localities accept cash only.

Zloty has a floating exchange rate, which has fluctuated in the last few years (see Table 3.1). These fluctuations were influenced by the relations between other currencies - therefore between the years 2000 and 2005 zloty has strengthened against US dollar, while maintaining steady rate against euro (in circulation since 01.01.2002)

Table 3.2. presents average zloty exchange rates against both these currencies for the last 7 years

Table 3.1 shows average exchange rates as of December 2006.

On entering the EU, Poland has pledged to substitute zloty with euro; the date of substitution has not yet been set. Currently, it is forecasted that change of monetary system will take place between 2012-2014.

Table 3.1

Table 3.2