Czech central bank's Rusnok: forecasts see hike at year-end, cannot exclude earlier move

PRAGUE: The Czech central bank's new forecasts see chances for an interest rate increase at the end of the year, although an earlier move cannot be excluded, Governor Jiri Rusnok said on Thursday.

Rusnok, speaking after the board voted 6-1 to leave the main two-week repo rate at 0.75 percent, said a slower than forecasted appreciation of the crown could create room for a hike but that the weaker firming may also compensate for other circumstances that are anti-inflationary.

He added the crown exchange rate did not make the bank nervous. He said one board member vote for a rate hike on Thursday, arguing the economy was at the peak of a cycle.