PRAGUE: The Czech central bank may start raising interest rates in the second half of this year when the duration and impact of lockdowns on services are clear, board member Tomas Holub said in an interview for daily Hospodarske Noviny released on Tuesday.

Holub said he saw greater risks in acting too early than too late.

"I still perceive greater risk that we start a premature tightening of monetary policy," he said.

"For me that is a greater risk than if we 'sleep in' a little versus what may perhaps seem as optimal looking back a year later. We can catch up in such a situation if needed."

He said that while it was realistic to see rate tightening would start in the second half, it was unrealistic to expect three or four hikes as assumed by the bank's latest quarterly forecast.