According to Polish daily Rzeczpospolita, Waldemar Pawlak Economy Minister has stated that PKO BP (26,12 PLN, -1,36%) should not pay dividend out of 2008 net profit, in order to have more room for lending action. Our view: We believe that bank is sufficiently well capitalised and profitable enough to afford a dividend payout but reversing the bank's earlier decision to pay no dividend makes no sense if new shares are issued at the same time. Political influence on the bank is expected to continue to weigh on the stock price in the near-term.