The zloty hit a seven-month high against the euro and a three-year high versus the dollar on Friday, extending a rally that had made it the world's best performing currency in 2017 along with the Czech crown. Robust growth has made assets in the European Union's emerging economies attractive, with the European Central Bank's monetary stimulus also helping.
The region's economies are mostly balanced and not vulnerable to jitters in commodities markets and the dollar. The National Bank of Hungary, in its recent quarterly inflation report, said the region remains the "growth centre" of the EU.
"Inflation typically increased in the countries of the region in the past months, but still remained within the tolerance bands," it said, adding that economic growth could continue.
Emerging markets generally have performed well this year and approval of a much-awaited US tax cut bill has also buoyed sentiment in global equity markets recently, analysts said. The zloty firmed 0.1 percent against the euro to 4.1749 by 1110 GMT. The crown was steady after a rally on Thursday.
Both currencies have gained about 5.5 percent versus the euro this year, and with almost 20 percent gains against the dollar are the world's top performing currencies in 2017.
Dollar investors who bought Warsaw's equities index a year ago close 2017 with huge gains. The index has risen 27 percent, leading the region, followed by a 23 percent rise in Budapest and a 17 percent gain in Prague. In the MSCI emerging country indices, Poland was the top performer, rallying by more than 50 percent in dollar terms. The index of Warsaw-listed banks touched a three-year high on Friday. The Romanian leu, in contrast, hit a record low of 4.6618 against the euro on Friday.
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