Pewex (short for Przedsiębiorstwo Eksportu Wewnętrznego – Internal Export Company[1]) was a chain of hard-currency shops founded in 1972, during the Communist era in Poland that accepted payment only in United States dollars and other hard currencies, instead of the country's indigenous currency, the złoty.[2]
History
Pewex was created in the 1970s to help combat Communist Poland's foreign currency deficit.[1]
By the late-1960s, it had become apparent that the then socialist centrally-planned economy of Poland was inefficient. The rule of Edward Gierek led to a short period of economic prosperity. With the aid of foreign loans, Gierek instituted a programme to modernise industry and increase the availability of consumer goods. The standard of living increased markedly and for a time he was hailed a miracle-worker. The economy, however, began to falter during the 1973 oil crisis and by 1976 price increases became necessary, mostly to ease the repayment of these loans.