Polish agricultural lender Bank Gospodarki Żywnościowej (BGŻ), in which Dutch Rabobank took a stake last year, has suspended its initial public offering plans until the middle of 2007.

"We have given ourselves until the middle of 2007 to decide whether and when to carry out an initial public offering," BGŻ's chief executive Jacek Bartkiewicz said.

The mid-sized lender, which recorded total assets of nearly zł.18 billion at the end of March, had planned to offer new shares in an IPO in 2006 to raise funds for further expansion.

Last year Rabobank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) bought zł.500 million of new shares in BGŻ, gaining a joint stake of slightly above 50 percent. The government has 45 percent.

Bartkiewicz also revealed that the bank plans to raise return on capital from 0.1 percent to 15 percent by 2008. "After successfully completing our restructuring plan, it is now time for us to attack," he said.